


Prophecies and War

by TrulyMightyPotato



Series: Royal Expectations [3]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: I'm really not going to question the sword, a small friend, and apparently it has a sense of logic, at least on my end, especially the people, if you need to know a specific tag and it's not on here contact me on tumblr okay, lots of people are going to die, the sword also has a sidekick, the sword has an attitude, the sword is also going to judge you, there are hints to things in the tags if you really want to read into it, there will NOT be rape or non-con, there will be battles, there will be blood - Freeform, there will be crying, there will be death of some sort or another, there will be fighting, there will never be smut, this has been a public announcement, this is probably going to be a lot longer than the other two by the way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-09-07 03:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 60
Words: 109,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8781533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrulyMightyPotato/pseuds/TrulyMightyPotato
Summary: Well, things are looking pretty grim, and there are a few goals Wade is keeping firmly in mind. 1 - having everyone close to him survive this war. 2 - surviving the war himself. 3 - peace. How hard is it to have peace already?





	1. Prologue

JP wasn't sure if his nighttime walk with Brycelyn was odd because he wasn't very good at conversation or because the date was completely ruined by Dlive and a few other guards trailing close behind.

Or maybe he was just nervous. He hadn't been able to get any time alone with Brycelyn for nearly a week, and in the two months since Wade and the others had started back for the Seventh Realm, they'd only been able to see each other and talk over meals and when they passed in the halls.

“Can we ditch them?” JP said as quietly as JP could say, glancing slightly at the guards.

“That would get us in trouble.” Brycelyn shook her head. “Cry wouldn't let us go anywhere alone if we did that.”

JP sighed. “What does he think is going to happen?”

“Well, to be fair, the last time we were alone together we decided to defy orders and got in a fight with a demon.”

“To be fair, if we hadn't been there, it would have leveled Quintal.”

“Yeah, but we still broke the rules.”

JP sighed. “Do we really need so many guards, then?”

“Well, normally, we would just both have our Protectors.” Brycelyn frowned. “But they’ve all been killed, and you never had one. So we'll just have to improvise.”

“What's it like, having a Protector?”

Brycelyn paused. “Have you been bound to the Seventh Realm yet?”

JP nodded. “With an ‘Heir binding,’ Wade called it.”

“That's the general binding all Heirs have to go through so the magic of the land will formally recognize you as one of the nobility.” Brycelyn nodded. “Have you ever performed the protection spells?”

JP nodded again. “When Wade hadn't been able to.”

Brycelyn sighed. “Yeah, it's almost like that, but with a living person.” She paused. “From the stories I've heard, Wade would be long dead without someone else performing the spells. I just wasn't sure if you were the one who performed them or if Molly was.”

“We both have. Molly only a couple times, after everything in the demon camp ended, since both Wade and I were too messed up to do it.”

“Here it's required for every noble to perform them the month after they turn fourteen.” Brycelyn said. “So we can know what the magic feels like.”

“The Seventh Realm feels... Practical. So practical it almost ignores emotion sometimes. You could try to get it to help you do something, but unless that thing had practical applications, it's not gonna help.”

“The Fifth is very ... Temperamental.” Brycelyn paused. “Mom always said that was why Cry, Jess, and I have elemental magic, because they're very reactive to emotion... especially anger.”

JP looked at her, curious, before tripping on a rock.

Brycelyn started laughing.

JP grinned at her, even though his side hurt from the impact with the ground.

“Smooth.” Dlive said, walking over and offering JP a hand. “Very smooth.”

JP laughed, taking the offered hand. “I never claimed be good at this.”

“This?” Brycelyn asked. “What's ‘this’?”

JP brushed himself off. “Everything.”

Dlive gave JP a comforting pat on the shoulder, then returned to his place a few feet away.

“I'm sure you’re good at something.” Brycelyn said. “What do you do for fun?”

“I haven't had a lot of time for fun over the past eight months.” JP admitted.

“What did you used to do?”

“Well, after Wade became my guardian, I started a lot of training and lessons. But whenever Wade wasn't doing prince stuff, he was with me. We made a lot of jokes.”

“I didn't think he traveled that much over the past three years.”

“Not after he became my guardian, and he usually took me with him when he did.” JP grinned. “I got to visit the Land of the Squirrels when Mark was crowned.” His grin widened. “It was so cool. His wife is super sweet, too.”

“You’ve met Amy?”

“At Mark's wedding, yeah. She was super nice, even though I was the only non-noble guest there.”

“How was traveling outside the Realms?”

“It was super cool. I mean, the only reason I got to go was because Wade was sent as the national representative, but it was really pretty.”

“How did you meet Wade, anyway? The first time I heard of you was when Mom was telling us that he'd become your guardian.”

“My dad was on the Royal guard. He died protecting the Regent Princess right after the plague ended, but managed to ask the first person to try and heal him to take care of me before he died -- and that was Wade.”

“I thought this year was the first assassination attempts for decades.”

“It was an accident. Dad got her out of the way, but...” JP shrugged. It wasn't a good memory, but since he was going to marry Brycelyn one day, and she was going to find out eventually, he might as well tell her.

“Were you there?”

JP sighed, fixing his gaze on the ground in front of them. “No. I was at home. I wasn't better -- wasn't sure I was going to get better at that point, since everyone but Dad had already died from it.” JP frowned. “He'd had to bury them by himself. Well, he would have if Captain Minx hadn't helped, but it was still pretty bad.”

Brycelyn's hand slid into his. “I had no idea it got so bad in Primus.”

JP shrugged sadly. “I wouldn't have lived if Wade hadn't spent a few weeks healing me himself.”

Brycelyn squeezed his hand, then paused and glanced quietly at their guards. “It’s getting dark. Let’s go up to my balcony and watch the stars come out.”

JP smiled at her. “Okay.”

When they got to Brycelyn’s rooms, a guard took the customary place outside the hall door and Dlive took a seat in the small common room while Brycelyn pulled JP onto the balcony just off the common room -- Dlive could certainly still see them, but he couldn’t hear them talk, which was what Brycelyn wanted. 

JP and Brycelyn stretched out on the balcony, watching the stars slowly emerge from the twilight sky. It was almost summer now, the cool mountain air clear and almost as warm as it would get until the scorching heat of summer -- even then, the mountains would stay cooler than the plains of the Fourth and Third Realms. Brycelyn had only experienced that heat once, when she had visited the neighboring Realms with her mother the year she had been presented to the Regent Princess, but it had been enough to make her glad for the mountain shade.

“Does it get any easier to not have your family with you anymore?” Brycelyn asked quietly. “Will it get easier not seeing Mom around?”

JP slid his arm around Brycelyn. “Sort of. You get used to it, and you stop expecting to see them when you turn around, but there are still times I go to tell my brother something and realize he’s not there and won’t ever be again, and it hurts a lot.” A pause. “I’ve been lucky, I guess. Wade’s tried hard to be there for me, even if it meant dragging me across the borders of a country because he didn’t want to leave me without someone for that long. He and Pat have sort of become like family to me. And it helps.”

“They're good people.”

“They made it easier to believe I wasn't doomed to nothingness just because I'm an orphan.” He smiled at Brycelyn. “That no matter how bad things get, life will get better.”

Brycelyn smiled back. “It's a comforting thought.”

They fell into silence for a while, just watching the night sky develop. Then Brycelyn frowned. “I thought the blue moon wasn't supposed to be new for another week.” But it wasn't in the sky.

JP was silent for a moment before his arm tightened around Brycelyn. “It's not. What happened to it?”

A shudder ran through Brycelyn -- not a shudder of her own, but of the magic of the Fifth Realm. It was like a heavy blanket had fallen over the fortress -- like the magic of the Realm had gone to sleep. But that was impossible, wasn’t it?

“Something's wrong.” Her voice came out barely a whisper.

JP nodded, pulling Brycelyn off the balcony and into the common area of her rooms.

Dlive was gone, and the door was open.

JP frowned, quietly reaching for his dagger. “Do you think we can make it to my rooms? I'll feel better if I have my sword on hand.” His voice was just as loud as hers had been.

Brycelyn nodded, suddenly glad for the familiar weight of her armor under her clothes, and for the dagger Cry always insisted she wear.

The two moved quietly, carefully, especially as the guard that had been outside the door wasn’t there any longer. It probably wasn’t the smartest to be holding hands as they moved down the hall, but Brycelyn didn’t want to face the darkness alone.

JP quietly opened the door to his rooms, pulling Brycelyn in behind him. Quietly, he darted across the common area and ducked into his bedroom, where he reached for his sword.

Brycelyn kept an eye on the door, dagger at the ready. After a pause, she scooped up Pillow from where the Sup Guy was sitting on JP’s desk and stuck it in her pocket.

JP struggled a little to put on his sword so quickly, but he managed. Then his hand was back in Brycelyn’s, and the two slowly ventured out of his room.

Dlive was there, this time, glaring at them, sword drawn. Even though he didn’t say anything, the message was clear: don’t go anywhere without a guard. Especially in a situation like this.

A soft knock sounded on the doorframe, and Dlive whirled around to see --

Gar stood in the doorframe, looking concerned. “What’s going on?”

Dlive lowered his sword. “I don’t know. I can’t find any of the other guards.”

Gar frowned. “That’s a problem.”

“Why are you here?” JP asked. “Where’s Molly?”

Gar tilted his head. “That’s a little complicated.”

“How complicated could it be?”

Gar drew his sword, the one Molly had made for him, and looked down the hallway behind him. “Very.” This time, the word was soft, almost inaudible.

Then he stabbed Dlive.

Brycelyn’s eyes widened, even as Gar looked over at them, eyes now glowing red and blue. 

Gar nudged Dlive’s groaning -- dying -- form on the ground with his boot. “Nothing personal.” His voice caught. “ Just orders.”

JP, still holding Brycelyn’s hand, ran, darting past the demon and to the hallway, where he inelegantly slammed into the wall before running again, dragging Brycelyn along with him. If he could get them to Cry’s rooms, just down the hall, the guards there would be able to help, right?

Then Gar was in front of them again, and he grabbed JP’s wrist and Brycelyn’s wrist. “As I said, nothing personal. Just orders.”

JP’s screech of fear echoed, hanging in the hallway. It would wake Cry, but by the time he had grabbed his own sword, the two young nobles and Pillow were gone, and the illusion of an empty hallway had faded, revealing no fewer than eight guards dead strung up on the wall, blood pooling in the stones of the hall floor.


	2. Preparing for War

Molly was somehow unsurprised that there was a sword tip at her throat. She had told Wade she couldn’t fight, and he had forced her into this anyway. It wasn’t like she could yell at him about it -- she hadn’t seen him all week.

Bob sighed, lowering his sword. “Molly. You have to actually try to fight back.”

Molly picked herself up. “I am trying. You keep disarming me before I even get the chance to attack.”

Bob just waited for her. “Wade would be a lot better at teaching you than me.” He shook his head.

“Wade’s busy planning for war.” Molly frowned. “I don’t think he’s even come out of his office all day.”

“He hasn’t.” Bob gestured to Molly’s training sword with his own -- they were made of wood, so they still hurt like crazy if you got hit, but you weren’t going to die from it. “Come on.”

Molly groaned and picked it up. It was bad enough that she’d had to constantly wear armor since Wade had gotten the news of Suzerain’s declaration of war (so she could get used to it), but having to learn how to fight like this was simply not working for her -- she’d been close to disarming Bob, but she just couldn’t last that long.

Gar would have been able to teach her.

Molly frowned, getting into the starting position Bob had drilled into her over and over for an entire week, her fears for the upcoming war stirring a bit into anger.

Gar had been turned into a demon. Well, re-turned. 

Block. Parry. Dodge to the left.

Gar had turned out to be the Demon Prince. Had he ever really even been her friend? Or had he really just been looking for an opening, for information?

The wood cracked loudly, as if  it was going to break with another few good hits.

Gar had been bound to Suzerain. He would be fighting against the Realms. 

Molly sidestepped Bob’s swing, throwing the full energy of the movement onto his arm. It didn’t matter whether Gar had been a friend before or not -- he was an enemy now.

Bob yelped, dropping his sword. “I yield, I yield.”

Molly sighed, dropping her own sword. “Can I go find Wade now?”

Bob rubbed his arm, wincing. “I’m not going to stop you after that.”

“Good.” Molly walked back inside the fortress. Wade was probably in his office. He usually was these days.

Three weeks. Three weeks since Suzerain had declared war. Three weeks since everything had gone wrong. Three weeks since she’d had the chance to properly be around Wade.

When she got to his office, he was sitting in his chair, but completely curled into himself and on the table, head in arms. Pat, just inside the door, had tears streaking down his face.

“What happened?” Molly asked.

Wade groaned, shaking his head. “JP.”

“What did he do?”

“He and Brycelyn got kidnapped.” Pat wiped his face with his arm. “Dlive was left for dead, but he says the person that got them was Gar.”

Molly sank into the closest available chair.

“How...how did he get into the fortress? What happened?”

Wade sat up, clearly having been crying himself. “We don’t know. Cry was asleep when it happened. He heard JP scream and ran out to see the hall filled with dead guards and Dlive dying on the floor of JP’s rooms.”

“Is Dlive alive?”

“They managed to get to him in time, but...” Wade shook his head. “That’s not the worst part.”

“How can this get worse?”

“Josh received a message from Suzerain.” Wade swallowed hard. “They want us to surrender completely within a year, or they’ll kill JP and Brycelyn.”

A cold chill ran through Molly’s body. Suzerain would slaughter them, no matter if the Realms surrendered peacefully or not.

“Josh isn’t going to surrender, is he.”

Wade shook his head. “He’s not.”

Molly groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Can we rescue them?”

“It’s a three month journey by land and a month by water.” Wade shook his head. “They’ll see us coming.”

“How long ago were they taken?”

“Last night. Apparently, if demons are powerful enough, they can just...teleport.” Wade put his face in his hand. “Why didn’t we see this happening sooner? With Gar?”

Molly shook her head. “We couldn’t have known this was going to happen.”

“You’re pretty stupid for having trusted him in the first place.” Pat wiped his face again. 

“You trusted him.”

“I do my best to trust who you trust.” Pat scowled at Wade. “Why did you trust him?”

“Because he was literally bound to Molly. He couldn’t do anything awful.”

“Clearly it wasn’t enough.” Pat sighed, flopping back into his chair. “Why didn’t any of the protection spells freak out about him? Why didn’t the magic of the Realms do anything?”

“...the magic here actually said Gar had no ill will.” Wade finally sat up. “I truly believe Gar is a good person.” He made a face. “There’s just currently a demon in the way of our friend.”

“It’s not like you can undo turning someone into a demon.” Pat said. Then he frowned. “Can you?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know.” Wade shook his head, then turned to Molly. “Sorry I haven’t been around.”

“No, you’ve got to prepare for war. I understand that.” Molly went and hugged Wade from behind. “How can I help?”

“Well, the Seventh Realm is in charge of raising one seventh of the army for this war -- and a third of any and all naval forces.” Wade pulled out a map of the Seventh Realm. “We’re not a Realm of fighters, though -- none of them really are.” He traced the coastline and the mountains. “Most of the people live here -- the forests are generally left to animals and the magical inhabitants.” He frowned. “I have to send out orders for people to report to training, but I can’t leave the farms and quarries and docks unattended.” His shoulders sagged. “Especially since the people that go out might not come back.”

“Don’t you have to go out and fight, too?”

Wade bit his lip. “Under normal circumstances, yes, but Josh was talking about forcing me out of it.”

“You’re literally the only person in the entire kingdom that can take the throne if Josh dies.” Pat said. “It’s not like he has a kid yet.”

Wade shuddered. “It’s something that’s occurred to me a few times.”

“Doesn’t your sister have royalty magic?” Molly frowned. “Why can’t she take the throne?”

“You have to be unmarried.” Wade sighed. “It’s why Josh was crowned before he was married. Even though we waited until his wedding day to do it.”

Molly leaned on him. “Well, hopefully he’ll have his own heir by the time our wedding rolls around.”

“If he doesn’t, he might force us to postpone it.”

Molly scowled. “It’s our wedding. We should be able to have it when we want.”

Wade nodded. “Hypothetically. Fortunately, we still have over a year, so Josh has time.”

Molly just  _ hmm _ -ed and looked at the map. “Isn’t there some sort of policy for this?”

Wade nodded. “It’s more of guidelines, though.” He pulled over his map of Septimal. “You never take more than half the male population and a third of the female.” He looked up at Molly and shrugged. “It’s kind of necessary to keep the population going.”

“I get it.”

“That’s the only guideline you never overstep.” Wade looked at the map again. “The problem then becomes being able to help support an army with a lower work force.” He frowned. “This would be a lot easier if I had an accurate census.”

“When was the last one?”

“Two years ago.”

So it was another three years before Septimal would be censused, and another eight until the rest of the Realm. Normally, it wasn’t a problem, but...

“Was the census done before or after the plague?” Molly's family had been counted before, but just barely, so maybe the census had been finished after everything had calmed down.

“Before.” Wade said grimly. “I have no idea how many people died of it here, how many are unable to fight because of it. How many families now only have one provider, or no providers.” He ran his fingers through his hair. Then he sighed. “You were here. How bad did it get?”

“Septimal had quarantine crews. The docks were completely closed, too.”

Wade winced. “Did you lose anyone?”

“My neighbors.” Molly frowned. “They were the sweetest couple.”

Wade frowned. “How was burial for the city?”

“We almost got to mass graves, if that’s what you’re asking. But we burned the dead instead -- all the mountain Realms did. It’s easier than building a catacomb.” She frowned. “It was about one in five dead, I think.”

“Burning the dead was probably what kept it from getting as bad as in Primus.” Wade said. “It was nearly one in three dead there.”

Molly grimaced. “I was lucky not to lose any of my family.”

“So was I, but JP was the only survivor of his.” Wade turned back to his desk, shuffling papers. “Here's the census. Almost 50,000 in the entire Realm.”

“Let's be safe -- one in five died, so that's now 40,000.” Pat said. “At most, we'll be able to add about 15,000 to the army.”

Wade sighed. “That'll leave 25,000 to maintain everything here. Can a Realm manage with half the labor it used to, while providing more than it used to? Less than half, even, depending on who in the family died?”

Molly frowned. “Can we move some of the quarry workers to the farms? We have empty houses from where entire families died still.”

Wade made a thoughtful face. “It's possible. But that stone is used for more than just building things here -- it's one of our exports. We're going to need a functioning economy during this, and that means continuing to meet our export quotas.”

He paused, looking at the maps in front of him for quite some time before writing something. “It's going to be interesting, making this work, but hopefully it will.” Wade made a face. “Suzerain declared war at the worst time -- We can't even raise a full army after that plague.”

“That might be deliberate.” Pat said.

“I wouldn't be surprised if they started planning soon as we got hit.” Wade sighed. “I'm going to have to close the ports to Suzerain ships. That's going to hurt trade.”

“Who trades most with us?” Molly asked.

“Avalier.” Wade frowned, then slowly sat up. “They might be able to rescue JP and Brycelyn. They neighbor Suzerain.”

“Why would they?”

“They do have a treaty with us.” Pat mused.

“Are they going to keep that treaty, with a war?” Molly asked.

“They’d better. Dan and Phil’s marriage was arranged as part of it, and I don’t think Dan would ever go back and visit his childhood kingdom if Avalier broke off the treaty.”

“Wouldn’t they demand him back?”

“They can’t -- he’s married to Phil, which means he can stay without even applying for political asylum.” Wade tapped his fingers. “I’m going to talk to Josh and Dan. They’ll know more about if that’s possible or not.”

“What if Avalier refuses to rescue JP and Brycelyn?”

“Then it means they don’t want to declare war on Suzerain. I can’t blame them.”

“Wait,” Molly paused as a thought occurred to her, “why did Dan and Phil get into an arranged marriage with someone from overseas if Phil’s the native Lord of the Third Realm?”

“Phil was never meant to be Lord.” Wade said. “His older brother was supposed to inherit rulership after their parents retired, but then all three of them died in the plague.”

"...how many nobles died in the plague?”

“Brycelyn’s father. The Lord and Lady of the Third Realm, along with their eldest son. The Fourth Realm lost a daughter -- well, sister -- since she was married to Phil’s older brother.”

Molly made a face. “When are you going to talk to Josh and Dan?”

“I can probably talk to Dan tonight. He tends to be up later. Josh will have to wait until morning.”

Molly nodded.

There was still hope for JP and Brycelyn.


	3. The Bardic Guard

JP stared at the shackles around his wrists and ankles, then up at the iron bars in front of him -- and the guard on the other side. “Where’s Heiress Brycelyn?”

The guard looked surprised that JP was actually speaking to him. Or maybe it was that JP had decided not to sit in the dark and had made his own lights float above him. After all, it was bad enough to be sitting in a dungeon, chained and shackled to the floor of this cell. He wasn’t even sure what country he was in.

“Do you know?” JP pressed the question.

The guard hesitated, then completely turned his back on JP, then walked off.

JP frowned, sitting quietly with his legs crossed. He’d been trying to get an answer to that question for ...he didn’t know how long. Long enough for him to feel absolutely exhausted, after he’d woken up.

He knew he wasn’t going to be well treated here. His biggest clue was that he was already in a dungeon, shackled to the floor. Also, he had been here for what he guessed was two days, since he’d been given two bowls of water (bowls was an optimistic way to put it -- the guard that had delivered it had dumped the water onto the floor of the cell, and JP had only been able to drink some of it). And, so far, nobody had given him any food.

JP stretched as far as he could with the shackles on him. His entire body ached from not being able to move a lot. How much worse would it get? How long were they planning on keeping him here?

JP sighed. He might as well try to get some sleep. Goodness knew if they would try to keep that from him, too.

The next time JP woke, Gar was sitting cross-legged in front of him, a bowl of water and a slight bit of bread on the rim of the bowl.

Well, saying the demon in front of JP was Gar was like saying JP was back home -- most definitely not true. The demon had Gar’s face, but the wing and armor definitely weren’t Gar’s.

“What do you want?” JP cautiously sat up, almost collapsing as his arm shook from putting weight on it.

“Information and conversation.” The voice was definitely not Gar’s, either. It was much more powerful, more threatening, more...demonic.

“Why would a demon like you want to talk with a kid like me?” JP crossed his legs once again, holding onto his feet with his hands. He really didn’t want to antagonize this being.

“It has nothing to do with want, JPar.” The demon shook his head, smiling just like Gar used to. “I have no such luxury.” His eyes fixed on JP, as if boring into his soul -- an act that left a draft running through JP’s soul and chilling his every bone. “I am speaking to you because I was ordered to.” The demon pushed the bowl and bread within JP’s reach.

“Were you ordered to bring me bread?” JP eyed the meal suspiciously, then looked at the demon. 

For a split second, it seemed as if the demon was gone and Gar was grinning encouragingly at JP. But then it was gone, and the demon was left smiling sinisterly at JP, silent.

JP hesitantly reached for the bread, and since the demon didn’t stop him, took it and carefully bit into it.

“Do you know why you’re here?” The demon’s voice sent more chills down JP’s spine. “Did they bother to tell you your fate?”

JP shook his head, cramming more bread in his mouth. He didn’t know when he was going to get actual food next, and he didn’t want this demon in front of him to be able to take it away from him.

The demon examined him for a moment, wing furling and unfurling slightly with each breath. It was somewhat comforting, knowing the demon breathed, even if it was only for appearances and not actually something he needed.

“They intend to keep you for a year, you and your dearest intended, as leverage for the war they’ve declared on the Realms.” The demon laughed slightly, not even opening his mouth. “And if they don’t completely surrender in that time, Suzerain will kill you and send your bodies back in pieces to your dearest friends and families.”

“What happened to the friend in front of me?”

The demon blinked, then smiled again, then grinned and leaned forward, giving JP a rather uncomfortable view of pointed teeth that looked rather like those of a wolf. “I was merely returned to the state where I have the most power.”

“Really?” JP met the demon’s gaze, glaring at him. “Because you don’t seem very happy.”

“Happiness and power aren’t the same thing.” The demon leaned back again, clearly comfortable in his sitting position. “You’ll learn that in time.”

“What power do you have?” JP pulled himself to his knees, even as his arms were pulled behind him by the shackles. “You don’t even get to have wants. You don’t get to make your own choices. You’re filled with hate and sadness and fury.” The lights overhead flared, getting brighter and brighter with each word. “And you call that power? That’s nothing but pain, and pain is never power.”

A deep growl rolled out from the demon. The stone floor cracked (JP instantly noticed that the chains on him went slack), and the iron bars keeping JP from the hall shook and grated, dust fell from above, and footsteps sounded at a full run. Then a gasp, and the guard that had been approaching backed away very quickly as the demon turned to look at him -- an action that was too slow on the part of the guard, as the demon lunged and then the guard was in two pieces rather than one.

“Did you forget what it was to have friends?” JP stood now, since the shackles around his hands had gone slack. “Did you forget what it’s like to be loved? To have a life of peace? To know that whatever happened, someone would be there to face it with you and comfort you when you were sad? Did you forget Dante, the little corgi that loves you so much? Did you forget you put your demon self aside, and had it beat?”

The demon that was once Gar gave JP a cold glance -- quite literally, as the stone floor and metal shackles began to crack and ice over -- then began walking towards the young noble. “Did you forget your place in life?”

JP straightened his shoulders. “My place in life is taking care of my people. That’s the job of any noble. That’s the job of any decent person. I will do whatever I need to to take care of those I’m supposed to. I will love them and help them to the best of my abilities.”

“There’s nobody here for you to take care of.” The demon seemed unimpressed. “And you’re only a noble as long as you can manipulate the magic of the land. Can you? I don’t think so.”

JP scowled. “There’s at least two people here for me to take care of, other than myself.” He glared at the demon. “My intended. And the being that used to be my friend, that used to call himself Gar.”

The demon’s eyes were shocked -- something JP knew not because of the demon’s facial expressions, but because his eyes were a very familiar brown. Quickly, though, the eyes changed back to red and blue, and the demon’s expression set. “That person doesn’t exist. He never did. He was merely a lie.”

JP crossed his arms. “I don’t believe that.” Then he paused. “I don’t suppose you’re still causing the rumbling, are you? It feels more like a vibration than anything.”

The demon paused, and then his eyebrows went up. “Interesting.”

“Interesting how?”

The demon merely snapped his fingers, and the ice shattered, shattering the shackles around JP’s feet with it -- and completely cutting into them, driving JP to the ground in pain.

And then the demon was gone.

\-----

JP was moving, but not under his own power. It was like he was being carried.

“He's been like this all day.” A voice said, almost like they were reporting to someone else. “Clearly Realms nobles aren't very used to demons.”

“Why is a noble in the dungeons?” A different voice -- clearly upset.

Should he open his eyes? No, the people might start asking him questions. He didn't have any answers. His best bet was just listening.

“Lilith ordered him there.”

“You know the rules. He's a political prisoner, just like the other one. Putting political prisoners in the dungeon breaks the treaties. If the Realms found out, they could attack and none of our allies would be able to help.”

“They can't raise an army big enough.” Voice one scoffed. “They lost too many people when they were hit by the plague.”

“Just because their human population is smaller doesn't mean they can't raise a big army. King Barnes can call on the magical inhabitants of the Realms as well. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to deal with griffins.”

“The boy will be fine. You're overreacting.”

“He's taller than I am and I'm carrying him. Because nobody let him have food.”

A pause, where JP decided to think about what had been said already. Political prisoner. That was him. He didn't know what that meant.

The other one. Brycelyn? Hopefully it was Brycelyn. If it was, that meant she wasn't in the dungeon and was hopefully doing better than JP right now.

Speaking of himself, JP wasn't even sure if he was actually awake or if he was just semi-conscious or dying or something. He could feel a little bit of himself. What could he feel?

He was hungry. That was the thing he could tell the most.

His feet stung. Something else was making them feel weird, too, but JP didn't know what it was.

His ankles and wrists were super sore, too. That was almost definitely from being shackled.

His entire body felt like he was sinking. Heavy and unable to respond in any useful manner.

Yeah, he was in bad shape.

“He's your responsibility, then, Sharp.” Voice one was saying. “Both of them. And if either one of them dies before Lilith orders their deaths, then you'll be dying with them.”

The voice closer to JP  _ hmm _ -ed. “If that's what it takes to keep you from murdering people in cold blood, I'll do it.”

“Then take your useless lump of dying noble somewhere and get rid of it before Lilith finds out. You'll receive your final details of your instructions tomorrow morning, assuming the kid is still alive.”

“He will be. I'll make sure of that.”

\-----

Beautiful music.

Music so good it could have been played by Brycelyn, like she did every night when the nobles of the Fifth Realm got together and just spent time together. JP was half-expecting to hear Cry's voice telling the stories of some of the more spectacular problems he'd had to solve during the day, or reading one of the heavy but story-rich history books out loud for everyone to enjoy. The past few times, JP had even sung to Brycelyn's music -- nothing super majestic, merely some folk songs that were oddly romance themed for a night with her family.

But no.

This wasn't any of the songs JP knew. In fact, the music sounded and felt much too dark to be from the Realms.

That was right. JP was a prisoner somewhere, waiting to rot in the cell. 

That had been one wild dream, though.

JP opened his eyes, only to pause in confusion. He wasn't staring at the ceiling of a cell. He was staring at the frame for a heavy bed curtain.

And the music was still going.

“JP!” A familiar and oh-how-wonderful voice sounded. Then a flurry of footsteps, and Brycelyn's arms were around JP, hugging him so hard he could feel his bones preparing to break. “Oh, I'm so glad you woke up.”

JP’s hands went to her arms. “Can’t...breathe.”

Brycelyn let go, and JP took a shuddering breath. His eyes were fixed on Brycelyn by this point, and hers on him.

“Where are we?”

“A tower.” Brycelyn sat on the edge of JP’s...bed? He was on a bed? “Can you sit up?”

JP pushed himself onto his elbows, aware he was whimpering from the pain. 

“No, don’t push yourself if you can’t.” Brycelyn gently pushed him back down. “It’s okay.”

“What happened?”

Brycelyn looked away from JP, towards the other side of the room. JP turned his head and followed her gaze, realizing with some surprise that a man in full leather armor was playing a lute next to the door. “What do you remember?”

“The dungeon.” JP frowned. Gar being a demon. “The entire thing shook.”

The music stopped. “You angered a demon -- a demon prince, no less.” The man said simply, not looking up from his lute. “I’m impressed you’re still standing.”

“I wasn’t.” JP shrugged to the best of his ability. “And I’m definitely not standing now, either.”

“The point is, you faced off a demon without even so much as a flinch.”

“I’m not always very good at doing the smart thing.”

A long pause while the dark-haired man examined JP before sighing. “Well, at least you aren’t going to be giving me too much trouble until you can walk.”

“Who are you, anyway?” 

“I’m your guard keeping you in this tower. You can call me Nate.”


	4. Protector Bindings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on giving you guys a chapter at 10:30 on the 23 of December, but I'm feeling generous. Also, I want to be able to draw stuff without giving away too much. So have a bonus chapter.

“I don’t recognize these names.” Molly looked up from one of Wade’s many lists on his desk.

“Those are the names of some of the generals.” Pat explained. “Generally fairly serious people.”

“Why do we have their names?” Molly looked at the list again. “And only two of them.”

“Zombiemold and Latin Goddess.” Pat nodded. “They’re going to be the ones working most closely with Wade. Latin will be in the Sixth Realm, and Zombie will come here.”

“We get a general?” Bob asked.

“Have you looked at Wade’s training?” Pat shook his head. “Or the lessons JP started getting while in the Fifth Realm?”

“I’m not a noble, Patrck, and I don’t spend my life guarding them that closely. How am I supposed to know what training Wade has?”

“A lot. He has a lot.” Pat paused. “He’s coming back now.”

Wade had stepped out of his office to have a private conversation with someone. Molly wasn’t quite sure who.

Wade walked back into his office and dropped into his chair with a sigh. “Josh wants me in Primus.”

“We just got back.” Molly protested.

“He only wants one noble from each Realm.” Wade said quietly. “I’m the only one here that has military training.”

Molly frowned. “You’re going alone?”

“Well, Pat is coming with me.”

“Pat’s paid to follow you everywhere.” Pat said. “Plus, you know, there’s the whole bit of about being magically bound to you.”

“What, you don’t ever consider a career change?” Bob asked.

“Well, assuming Wade dying didn’t shock my system so much that I also died -- which is usually what happens to Protectors when their nobles die -- I’d either get banished or executed.” Pat casually leaned against the wall. “That’s pretty unlikely to happen, though. I’m much more likely to die.”

“Cry didn’t die when Felix did.” Molly pointed out. Not unless the Lord of the Fifth Realm had come back to life.

“And Wade will probably live if I die. Well, when, because I’m not immortal.” Pat wiggled his head a little. “The nobles definitely got the better end of the deal here.”

“Saying ‘deal’ makes it sound like we both agreed to this.” Wade protested.

“I did.” Pat pointed out. “I was like six, but I did agree to it.”

“Six? Wade’s older than you, wouldn’t he already have needed a guard by then?” Molly pointed out.

“I’ve had guards since before I was born.” Wade said wearily. “Just not a Protector.”

“How is this all supposed to work with JP? Or Molly, or anyone else who lost their Protector?” Bob asked. 

... they’d told Bob that Gar had been turned into a demon, but he didn’t know yet that Gar had always been a demon. Molly imagined that would have to change eventually. It wasn’t something that lent itself to being hidden for long periods of time.

“I don’t know how it will work for JP.” Wade was saying. “Normally, he’d already have had a Protector for two years. But it’s been long enough since we had common-born nobles that we don’t really have policies for it.”

“I thought 1 in 4000 meant there are about ten in the Seventh Realm.” Bob frowned.

“It means there have been about twelve born in the past fifty years.” Wade corrected. “It doesn’t mean they survived to be tested at 16. Most don’t make it that far, not when there are so few of them.”

“What does that mean for the nobles, then?”

“You’ll get one or two common-born from each Realm every half century.”

“So Dan and Phil will find someone before they both die?” Molly asked.

“Probably. Phil is actually trapped staying in the Third Realm to make sure someone is around to perform the protection spells if worst comes to worst.” Wade nodded.

“Oh, think I could talk with Phil to figure out how to run a Realm, since you’re going to be off fighting?”

“You can ask, and I’m fairly sure he’ll agree. He’s not got a lot of experience being a Lord himself, and he’ll want the support from you. He does have more training than you do, though.”

“I’ll start talking to him soon, then.”

“Wait, what’s Dan doing then?” Bob asked. “Sorry, Lord Howell.”

“He might be crossing an ocean to visit his birth country and seeing what he can do for JP and Brycelyn, but he might end up staying here. I really don’t know.”

“What decides if he stays or goes?” 

“How willing Avalier is to help.” Wade shrugged. “They do border Suzerain, and they might not be willing to risk a war right now.”

“Can we not rely on politics to get JP to safety?” Molly grumbled.

Wade shook his head.

‘Wait.” Bob looked at the other three people in the room. “How does the binding between Molly and Gar work now that he’s a demon?”

“It’s not exactly like we can look at times when this has happened before.” Pat said.

“Well, you can sense Wade, right?”

“Unless he’s behind a border spell.”

“Could Gar sense Molly?”

“Hypothetically.”

“Can Wade sense you?” Bob looked over at the Lord of the Seventh Realm.

“Sometimes.” Wade raised his eyebrows. “I’ve been told it happens when a Protector is either experiencing high emotion -- which would be why I always know where Pat is in a fight -- or when they’re using their own magic.”

“Which he’s never sensed from me because I don’t have any.” Pat added.

Molly paused. “How does it feel when you sense each other?”

“Just kind of like he’s right next to me, but tugging me in the direction he actually is.” Wade replied.

“On a basic level, yeah. I can also tell his exact mood.” Pat answered.

“Like you’re in the same room?”

Wade’s eyes narrowed. “Yes.”

“Then I think I’ve sensed Gar.” Molly said. 

“That means the binding is still intact.” Pat said. “At least in some form.”

“Is that good or bad or?”

“Probably a combination of both.” Wade said.

“What your lovely betrothed means is Gar can probably still sense you. But it also might mean you could have some semblance of control over him if it ever came down to it -- he’s required to follow your orders,” Pat’s gaze moved over to Wade, “no matter how stupid they might be.”

Wade sighed. “Are you still mad at me for leaving Primus in the middle of the night?”

“Yes.”

“Are we sure Molly could potentially control Gar?” Bob asked.

“No.” Pat shook his head. “I have no idea which binding is stronger -- the Protector binding or demonic binding. It could be very dangerous to you, too, if Gar knew this and acted like you had control over him until it was too late.”

“Would he do that?”

“Would he be given a choice?”


	5. The Magic of Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're just checking in now and didn't see that I posted a chapter yesterday as well, make sure you read that one first.

It took JP a terribly long time to ask a question he’d been wanting to know the answer to since he woke up.

“You’re always playing your instrument. Aren’t you afraid we’ll escape?” JP asked.

Nate sighed, setting his lute across his knees. “Well, I got three hours of no questions.”

“That’s not an answer.” JP responded.

Brycelyn put her hand on JP’s, which he would have taken as a warning to not antagonize the person keeping them in the room if he had been trained in such signals. But he hadn’t, so he continued his line of questioning. “You don’t seem worried about it at all.”

“You can’t even sit up by yourself.” Nate’s gaze fixed unwaveringly on JP -- which was really quite disconcerting. “How are you supposed to so much as walk, much less run to escape?” He picked up his lute again. “Besides, you can’t get more than 30 feet away from me. They stuck magic on us to make sure of that.”

“30 feet is a lot.”

“Well, I was talking about Heiress Brycelyn.” Nate said. “You can’t get more than 15.”

“Why does she get more?”

“Because I’m not going to follow her into the bath.”

“Oh.”

Nate returned to playing.

JP looked at Brycelyn, then around the room while they sat there uncomfortably. It was fairly large, actually. Brycelyn had said it was a tower, but that meant it was a pretty big tower, or that they weren’t on the top floor. There were probably at least three rooms, based off the three doors JP could see -- Nate was sitting by the one that had to go outside, there was another one next to the foot of the second bed (both of the beds in the room were fairly small, but somehow not too short for JP), and one near the window across the room. A table shoved against the wall had a cushion set on it, where looked like Pillow was sleeping.

Brycelyn seemed to guess what JP was doing. “The stairs down are behind Nate.” Her voice was soft. “There’s a lot of them, he would definitely catch us before we got far.”

“We should probably wait until I can walk before we try to escape.” JP murmured back.

“The bath is in there.” Brycelyn pointed to the door at the foot of the other bed. “I don’t know where the other door leads -- it’s locked.”

“It goes to a balcony.” Nate said. “The Baroness doesn’t want you deciding to throw yourselves off of it.”

“Why would we do that?”

“After another five months here, you’ll probably be ready for any method of escape.”

JP frowned, thinking quietly. “Isn’t it your job to keep us safe as well as trapped?”

“Hypothetically.”

“Then how are you gonna help that? I mean, I don’t think we’d go that far, but still.”

Nate stopped playing with a sigh. “I have no idea.”

“What’s life like here?” Brycelyn asked. “You could tell us about that. Tell us stories and history and culture and stuff so we stay invested.”

Nate looked at the two young nobles for a long moment, then nodded. “Alright. What do you want to hear about?” He turned in his chair to actually face them.

“Well, I don’t know. What do you want to tell us about? What do you do in your spare time?”

“I play music and sing.”

“I haven’t heard anyone else do that here.” Brycelyn said.

“That’s because I’m not Suzerain.” Nate dipped his head. “I spent the first fifteen years of my life in Avalier. Suzerain is remarkably low on their confidence in their musical abilities.”

“What do they do here for fun, then?”

“They tell stories and keep history.” Nate set his lute down and walked to one of the tapestries on the wall -- it had a dragon on it, and fire and electricity, and something JP couldn’t quite identify, almost like a magical shimmer. “This was made by a child twelve years of age, while listening to one of their epic poems.”

“They were twelve?” Brycelyn was clearly taken aback. “I’ve been weaving since I was five and I still can’t make something like that.”

“Well, most of the magic here relates to home and family and baking and weaving and candle-making and all sorts of practical things -- no elemental magic like you two.”

“I don’t have elemental magic.” JP frowned.

“You brightened the entire castle when you faced off the Demon Prince.” Nate said. “Light definitely qualifies as elemental magic.”

JP made a face. “Why would it do that?”

Nate paused. “I have no idea. I don’t quantify magic. It’s all just different ways of manipulating energy.”

“Oh, okay.”

Brycelyn was looking at the tapestry. “What’s the story behind that?”

“That's a very long story.”

“I imagine we're going to be here for a while.” JP said.

Nate paused, just looking at them, looking thoughtful. Then he did a quick eyebrow-raise-head-tilt thing as if shrugging without the shoulders and nodded. “Alright. Let's figure out how much you know already from your history lessons.”

Oh, so JP had a decent chance of knowing some of this, then.

“What do you know about the time before the Empire?”

JP frowned. Nothing. He knew nothing.

“There were kingdoms where current countries now are.” Brycelyn said. “They fell to the demons in the Empire's army. The current Royal families are descended from the old ones, with the possible exception of the Realms, where the person able to call on the magic of all of the Realms, without being bound to any of them, became the first of the royal family. Since all of the old ones were killed before the princess and prince had children.”

Nate gave a head wiggle that looked like it meant maybe. “Largely correct, but I don't think the Realms have all the information.”

“And you do?”

“Not necessarily. I just know what I've learned while living here.” A pause. “Do you know the names the original countries that existed in this part of the world?”

“Bossatron was Septia. The Land of the Squirrels was Iplier. I don't know what Suzerain or Avalier or the Realms were called, but I do know that was the time this area first got found by countries around the equator.”

“I don't know what Suzerain was called, either. Whenever they talk about it in their poems, they just say ‘we’ or ‘our ancestors’.” Nate shrugged. “Avalier had the same name. The Realms were known as The Changing Lands.”

“The Changing Lands? Why?”

“Their royalty had such a strong connection with the magic of the land that they could change the geography of it -- flatten mountains or create them, redirect a river, pull water from the ground in case of a drought. Or keep out your most dangerous enemies. Or fight without engaging many soldiers, if they were willing to send one of the royalty to deal with the problem.”

“Wouldn’t that mean the current royalty could do that?” JP frowned. Wade couldn’t do that -- otherwise he would have to deal with the demons in the Seventh Realm.

Nate shook his head. “Have they?”

“No.”

“Then probably not.”

“What does this have to do with the tapestry story?” Brycelyn asked.

“The tapestry tells part of the tale of how the Empire rose to power, while the Changing Lands were the last of the kingdoms to be holding out against their forces.” Nate settled into a comfortable position, and Brycelyn curled up next to JP. 

“Ready?” Nate reached for his lute. “We'll only go through the setting of the scene today, and then you can sleep and eat and do whatever it is you two need to do.”

Brycelyn nodded.

Nate paused. “I'm going to show you rather than tell you.”

“How?” JP asked.

“Lord Dan Howell of the Third Realm is from Avalier. Have you ever heard him play music?”

JP shook his head. “I've barely even met him.”

“Then just wait and see. I won't harm you, I promise.”

JP and Brycelyn looked at each other, then JP looked back and nodded. “We'll try it.”

“We start almost a thousand years ago, in a castle in the city that will ultimately become Primus.” Nate's fingers began to softly play music as he spoke, and the world seemed to shimmer slightly. “It was the capital of the Changing Lands, and the palace was built over the point of origin for the magic of the Changing Lands.”

The tower walls and ceiling melted away, revealing a throne room. A king and a queen sat next to each other, faces grim as a soldier or guard of some kind walked up to them. 

And while JP couldn't see anyone from the tower, he could still feel Brycelyn's hand in his and hear Nate's music.

“Sixteen more villages have been destroyed along the southern border. Survivors report demons in the attacking army.”

“So it’s war, then.” The Queen sighed. “So be it. Have the generals gather the army.”

The soldier hesitated. “It’ll take months for the army to be ready. The southern border will still be being attacked during that time.”

The King nodded. “I’ll take the soldiers we have now and defend what we can.”

“You shouldn’t go in battle, your highness.”

“Demons require me to go.” The King dipped his head. “At least, they require the royal magic, and I’m not sending either of my children into battle while they’re so young.”

The captain sighed. “Very well. I’ll relay orders.”

“Thank you, captain.” The King looked up, then to the side where JP was, but his eyes flicked over JP as if he wasn’t even there. “Go ahead.”

Soft footsteps as someone behind JP stepped forward and  _ through JP _ . JP’s gasp rang out, but nobody looked at him or even seemed to notice what had happened. “The Princess and Prince have returned from the day’s lessons.”

“Thank you.” The King smiled. “I’ll come see them as soon as court has adjourned.”

“They’re in the gardens. Apparently there’s a turtle friendly to their majesties there.”

The King laughed slightly. “Alright.”

The Queen frowned. “It’s not right to be laughing when we just entered a war.” Her voice was so quiet JP was sure he wasn’t supposed to be able to hear it from his distance.

“They’re children. They don’t even have a concept of duty yet. Let them play.” The King’s voice was equally soft.

The Queen smiled, and nodded before turning her attention to the next person that had stepped forward. 

“Your highnesses.” The person bowed, decked in a uniform that seemed more for show than for functionality.

“Ambassador.” The Queen tilted her head slightly.

“Avalier has agreed to the treaty. Their youngest princess will marry our dear prince in fifteen years’ time, and they will lower the tarrifs on trade and aid us in all wars, though there will be a year’s delay in time between the declaration of war here and the time the first of Avalier’s help arrives.”

Relief washed across the faces of both the King and Queen. “Wonderful news.”

One of the servants next to JP leaned to a friend. “I wonder if they have any regrets about agreeing to marry off their four-year-old son to a complete stranger.”

“I doubt it. Nobles are weird.” the friend murmured back.

Nobles were weird. JP would definitely agree with that one, and he was a noble -- even if he wasn’t very good at it yet. Arranged marriages were weird, too, and he was in one of those (well, not to the marriage part yet, but he was still holding Brycelyn’s hand).

It was at this point JP noticed the music had stopped and he could see the tower around him again.

“What was that?” JP stared at Nate.

“That was the beginning of the war, at least when both sides acknowledged it really was a war.” Nate set his lute down. “Now, if you promise to go to sleep and not try to escape so I can sleep, I’ll show you more of the story later.”


	6. The Dukeling of Northern Avalier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and Happy Holidays if you don't. Have an extra chapter as a non-holiday-specific gift. <3

What was happening to JP?

It was a thought that came often to Wade, as he went about his daily tasks and taking care of the things that had built up during his trip for the wedding.

It was something that weighed on him as he sent out the requirements for military recruitment. Josh wasn’t going to surrender, and Wade wasn’t going to ask him to. If Dan or Avalier couldn’t do anything to save them, JP and Brycelyn would die. Wade couldn’t do anything about it but prepare himself for the day he would receive news that the Suzerain government had finally executed the two teens.

Was JP being treated alright? Was he in a dungeon or locked in a room somewhere? Those thoughts came to Wade as he walked past JP’s rooms in the fortress. JP had packed for the wedding decently ahead of the time they left, but he hadn’t gotten his room cleaned. By now, some of the fortress staff had tidied the series of rooms, but Wade missed the familiar mess his ward made.

Was Brycelyn with JP? Were they able to provide each other strength and comfort, or had they been separated? Cry had always been so happy to report how close Brycelyn and JP were getting and how they frequently sought each other’s company when they could -- both of the teens knew their duty and that they would be married to each other even if they didn’t like each other, but it was always a relief to know that they would at least be friends.

Wade found one of JP’s essays crammed on top of some books in Wade’s office, the topic from just before JP had been taken by that demon so long ago -- the first time. It wasn’t graded, and Wade couldn’t help but wonder if JP had hidden it deliberately or if it had just happened. Was JP getting any kind of lessons? Even if not from someone in Suzerain, but perhaps Brycelyn was working with him.

Pat seemed to know where Wade’s mind was -- Pat usually knew, after the two had known each other for so long -- but he didn’t say anything that eased Wade’s worries. There was nothing Pat could say. There was no comfort to be offered if Dan couldn’t convince Avalier to help. 

Pat tried, of course. “I’m sure they’ll listen to him.” Pat took his customary place next to the door as Wade took a seat in his office. “He’s a competent guy.”

Wade sighed. “I hope so.” With that, he joined the already-present communication spell between the Lord of the Third Realm and Josh.

“You know, you have a strange way of doing the nobility here.” Dan’s voice observed. “You don’t have a lot of backup if something happens to the lords and ladies.”

“Our great-grandparents had enough nobles in their time that each of the Realms had Districts.” Josh replied. “Siblings and nieces and nephews of the current Lords and Ladies would be Dukes and Duchesses and keep track of the Districts. It made the job easier overall.”

“That’d be nice.” Wade said.

“Feeling overwhelmed?”

“With everything that’s gone on, I’ve really barely had the chance to even get properly settled in Septimal, much less actually figure out what I’m doing.” Wade said dryly.

“Wait.” Dan interrupted. “When you had Districts, you had Dukes and Duchesses?”

Wade nodded, then realized neither Dan nor Josh could see him. “It was a while ago.”

“What happened to the title?”

“We ran out of nobles to fill the spaces, between marrying them off to different countries and accidents and assassinations and childhood illness and the plague.” 

“Can we get the title to come back?” Dan asked.

“It would be ideal, but we just don’t have enough nobles for it right now.” Josh said. “We’d need at least seven for every Realm.”

“Seven.” Dan sighed. “Why Seven.”

“A Lord and a Lady and an Heir, and then one noble for each of the four Districts.”

“And the most any Realm has is four -- lucky Fourth Realm.”

“Why are you so interested in it, anyway?” Wade asked.

“I’m rather attached to the title.” Dan said. “I’m guessing you don’t remember, but my title back in Avalier is ‘Dukeling of Northern Avalier’.”

“Long.”

“It is, really.”

“Have you had the chance to speak with anyone in Avalier about JP and Brycelyn?” Josh asked.

“Not really. They keep trying to send me to talk to someone else.” Dan said. “And I can’t try too late at night or I keep Phil awake.” A pause. “I heard that. I will not keep you up, Lester. I refuse.”

“Do you know why? Is it because they don’t know what to do or they’re trying to avoid helping?” 

“Something’s going on.” Dan sounded like he was shaking his head and leaning back in a chair, or like he would be if he was in that physical scenario. “I haven’t even gotten the chance to talk about our missing nobles yet. I manage to get in contact with someone and they freak out and tell me they have to go and to contact someone else.”

“How far have you gotten with that?”

“Have you ever tried to reach a communication spell across a sea?” Dan asked. “I didn’t think so.”

The greater the distance, the harder it was, Wade knew. As it was, the three of them wouldn’t be able to talk for much longer before having to rest. “Do you know what’s happening?”

“I get the uncomfortable feeling Suzerain is bothering them.” Dan said. “Again, I don’t know for sure, because I can’t actually keep anyone in contact long enough to figure out what’s going on, and it’s not like I can hear what’s going on in the environment around them.”

“Wade, when will you be leaving Septimal?” Josh interrupted (seemingly ignoring Dan’s offended silence).

“There are just a few things I have to get set up before I can leave, and Molly is still getting used to the idea of me being gone for so long.”

“Oh my heart.” Dan murmured. “Same. Phil’s been an absolute mess whenever we talk about how things will be taken care of when I’m gone.”

“The end of the week is the soonest. More likely a fortnight.” Wade finished.

“How’s your Protector handling moving around so much? Isn’t he married?”

“Pat’s been patient about it, but he’s not really happy about it. Neither is Marie.”

“Makes me understand why most Protectors don’t get married.” Dan murmured. “Anyway, your highness, I’ll keep working on trying to get someone to tell me what’s going on in Avalier. I’ll keep you posted. Phil’s panicking over something, and I’d rather not have to find him crying on the floor again.”

“Go ahead and go.” Josh said quietly. “Take care of your husband, Lord Howell.”

“You’re being formal. That’s worrying.” Dan sighed. “Well, bye anyway -- I think maybe one of Phil’s houseplants died or something.”

Then Dan was gone from the communication spell.

“When you leave, I want you to keep me updated on your progress.” Josh said. “Zombie will be meeting you in the Sixth Realm, as well.”

“I thought he lived there.”

“He does. He's just joining you for the trip at that point.”

“I get the feeling you really want Pat to keep a tight grip on me.”

“I can do that.” Pat said quietly.

“I’m sure he’s already planning on it.” Josh said. Then he sighed. “I can’t let you and Molly get married until after --”

The rest of Josh’s sentence was cut off by Wade sighing. 

“It’s not ideal, I know.” Josh apologized. “I’m sorry. But if something happens to me in this war and I don’t have a kid, you have to be around to take the throne.”

“Please tell me I would still be able to marry Molly if that happened.”

Josh sighed. “You know the rules, Wade. I’m sorry.”

Wade sat in silence.

“You haven’t told her, have you.”

Wade sighed. “I haven’t really thought about it at all. But now that you’ve brought it up, I’m going to.”

“Good luck. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Then Josh was gone.

“You got rather sad near the end there.” Pat said.

Wade sighed, standing. “I got reminded of duty.”

“And I don’t know about it...how?”

“It’s never come up before.” Wade straightened some of the papers on his desk. “But if Josh dies and Princess McLoughlin doesn’t, then after they crown me I have to marry her, and Molly will become the Lady of the Seventh Realm by default.”


	7. Map

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not actually a chapter. I drew a map, so I'm sharing it with you guys here so you can reference it if you want.

 

There is more of the world, of course, but this is the part we're concerned about.


	8. Tapestry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized I hadn't actually posted a chapter yesterday. D: Here it is, though. Also, welcome to 2017.

Nate didn’t play that enchanting music that had so changed everything for over a week. He seemed somewhat reluctant to talk about it, too.

So JP and Brycelyn just looked at each other and did other things. JP would sleep and heal, and Brycelyn got permission to have a loom set up in the tower so she could have something to do.  Together they would play chess and Brycelyn would teach JP some of the things he had missed by not growing up as a noble.

The two teens even tried to get ahold of someone back home with a communication spell, but they weren’t sure who was closest to where they were -- they weren’t even sure where they were in Suzerain.

“Well, the Fourth Realm is farthest south.” Brycelyn said as she and JP played yet another game of chess (after this one, she was going to start teaching him how to weave). “Lord Fredrick and Lady Faye are nice. I’m sure they’d be willing to forgive us for not really knowing them before trying to talk to them.”

Nate glanced up at JP and Brycelyn from his usual spot at the door, but didn’t say anything.

“They live in the northern half of the Realm, I thought.” JP said. “I don’t know if we can reach them.”

“You won’t be able to.” Nate said calmly. “Lord Fredrick and Lady Faye left Quartal last week for Primus with their part of the army, taking Heiress Luna with them. Heir JFred is currently in control of the Fourth Realm.”

JP frowned. He’d forgotten Suzerain had declared war on the Realms. He’d forgotten that was really why he and Brycelyn were trapped in the tower.

“How long have we been here?” It was rather difficult to keep track of the days when they were all so similar, especially after the time JP had been left in the dungeon.

“Almost a month.” Nate answered. “The Baroness was hoping you’d be willing to help her by now.”

“Why would we do that?”

“Exactly. I’ll keep telling her you’re unwilling.” Nate grinned slightly at them.

A small wave of relief swept over JP. Nate seemed to be willing to help them. How far would that willingness extend, eventually?

“Don’t get any ideas.” Gar’s voice said.

JP blinked, looking around the room before his gaze landed on the Demon Prince just casually standing next to the balcony door. Right. This wasn’t Gar. Well, maybe Gar was close to being in control -- his eyes were brown.

The Demon Prince was holding a familiar puppy.

Dante gave a little bark.

Pillow squeaked.

The Demon Prince looked over at the small Sup Guy, then merely set Dante down. “If you’re going to use your magic to tell stories, don’t go only halfway through the magic.”

He sounded like Gar, not like the Demon Prince.

Or was this a trick?

“It can be dangerous to do that.” Nate looked at the Demon Prince coldly. “My job is to keep them safe.”

“The Baroness plans to kill them at the end of next month, if not sooner.” Gar’s voice was very simple, unconcerned. Not like he would have been before this happened. Even if Gar was in control (which JP wasn’t entirely convinced about), something was keeping him from being himself. 

“Why are you telling us this?”

“I wasn’t ordered not to.” Gar grinned, and that was what convinced JP that if Gar wasn’t in control, he was at least definitely still there. “Also, I wanted to drop off my puppy.”

Dante barked, trotting over to Brycelyn’s feet.

“A demon wolf has a puppy.” Nate raised his eyebrows.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Gar grinned again, gaze following Dante as Brycelyn hesitantly let the puppy sniff her.

Dante borked a tiny bork and grinned at Brycelyn and Gar.

“Since when does a demon volunteer information?”

“Since a certain kid managed to make me realize how it's possible.” Gar glanced at JP. “I’ll open the door at the bottom of the tower at midnight tonight. Take them to the sword room. See if they can take it. Get them back up here before dawn.”

“That’s not a lot of time for something like that.” Nate seemed uneasy.

“I can only promise you safety from midnight to dawn.” Gar said. “Any later and you’ll be seen.”

Nate sighed. “And why do you want this to happen?”

Gar smiled. “They’ll need it.”

And then he was gone.

“I wish he wouldn’t teleport.” Nate muttered. “And wasn’t super mysterious and creepy.”

“I mean, if I could teleport instead of walking everywhere, I would.” JP said. “It’s super cool.”

“What does he mean, the sword room?” Brycelyn asked. JP paused, realizing she was right. That was strange. Wasn’t the term armory?

“I’ll show you tonight.” Nate sighed. “Get some rest. We’ll be up and about during the night.”

\-----

Nate left Dante sleeping in the tower, but had JP tuck Pillow onto his shoulder.

JP didn’t dare say anything as they moved out the door Nate was always sitting by and down the seemingly infinite spiral of stairs.

The stone was oddly cool, despite the heavy summer air that had been coming through the open window in the tower room. It would be absolutely freezing in the winter -- sure, that was why there were tapestries and rugs everywhere, to keep you from dying of cold, but there were neither tapestries nor rugs in this endless staircase. It was especially cold on JP’s feet, since he hadn’t seen his boots since getting kidnapped by the Demon Prince in the first place. (Or had it been Gar? This was confusing.)

They passed several other doors, but JP didn't ask where they led it why they were there. Instead, he was reminded of the towers back home -- the three short inner towers sort of patched on and in the fortress and the four tall ones built into the outer wall for defense and stuff.

JP missed Septimal.

He’d been gone for so long. Five months, if he was doing his math right. Winter had been leaving, and now it was mid-summer.

Five months since he’d spoken to Bob or Mandy or Marie. Five months since he’d seen the ocean, or the mountains, or heard the markets or smelled the oh-so-specific tang of the ocean that hung in the air over the city.

Brycelyn’s arm wrapped around his, and he looked at her to see her looking at him with concern on her face.

Nate paused at an open door at what was probably the bottom of the tower, taking away any chance JP had to talk to Brycelyn and reassure her he was alright and really just homesick.

The hallway set out in front of them was incredibly long, seeming to fall into infinity. Huge stained glass windows made arches on one side, leaving only a foot between the edges of the window and the ceiling and floor. In the daytime, they probably cast beautiful red and gold and green light across the stone floor, but right now the light was rose and lavender and too-pale-to-easily-identify. Still gorgeous, but definitely different from what it would be when most people were up and about.

Nate moved quickly after that initial pause, not letting JP and Brycelyn really look around. 

Didn’t they have to worry about guards? Wouldn’t there be guards at the bottom of that tower? JP glanced back, then blinked in surprise. There were guards at the bottom of the tower, but it looked like they were asleep standing up -- almost like they’d had a sleep spell cast on them.

Oh.

Brycelyn tugged on JP’s hand, and he turned back to her to realize Nate was getting decently far ahead. He must have slowed her down when he’d looked back. 

Wait. Was it possible they could escape? Nate wasn’t really paying attention to them, and he could easily have been lying about having to be within a certain distance of each other.

Nate glanced back at them, as if to say ‘don’t even think about it’.

Well, JP could still keep his eyes out and pay attention to where they were going. Maybe they would get a chance later to escape.

This was really a gorgeous building. Incredibly detailed tapestries covered the walls, and if there weren’t tapestries there were stained glass windows. Thick rugs ran down the center of the halls they turned down, and the exposed stone on the sides had some sort of carved pattern in them. Or was it sculpted, because it was stone?

This hall was comfortably warm as they walked down it, but stone wasn’t. It always surprised JP how cold floors were when he wasn’t wearing socks or shoes.

Where were they going? The sword room? What was that? It didn’t sound like an armory or anything like that. Was it some highly ceremonial thing?

Brycelyn bumped JP slightly, then, when he looked at her, shook her head.

...how did she know he was about to ask?

Was he supposed to be being quiet? He hadn’t seen any more guards since the bottom of the tower.

They rounded another corner, only to come face-to-face with a pair of guards.

No, wait, they weren’t moving. Their eyes were closed, too -- like they had been put to sleep standing up, like the ones at the bottom of the tower.

Was this what Gar had meant when he’d talked about promising safety?

They turned one more corner and Nate paused for a fraction of a second before walking through an extremely large and ornate door set that didn’t look like it was supposed to be open. The largest clue JP had to that was the giant double doors were literally just hanging off their hinges -- the right one was hanging off a top hinge, and the left one was hanging off a lower hinge and was really just kinda propped against the wall.

Or maybe how there were no lights at all -- not even slots for torches in the walls. No windows. Which was weird -- you’d think with a door this fancy, you’d have at least one of those, if not both.

JP’s left hand yanked forward of its own accord, as if there was a rope tied to it.

Nate turned around and glared at JP until JP caught up. Apparently Nate had gotten 15 feet ahead of JP.

Apparently that spell keeping them close to Nate was a real thing.

The room was completely dark, and JP prepared himself to make a light.

But then deep blue light began glowing with every step they took, slowly growing brighter. By the time Nate stepped aside to reveal a sword clearly encased in some sort of magical spell, the room was as brighter than it had been but darker than JP had ever seen any night.

“Fitting.” Nate murmured. “This is Bluemoon’s old sword, Tapestry, and this is how bright it is on a blue moon.”

“Gar’s sword is named ‘Tapestry’?” JP asked. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” Nate didn’t speak very loudly, almost as if he was hesitant to speak at all. “Can either of you pick up the sword?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“It can only be picked up and held by someone with ‘no ill intent’ who has Realms magic, supposedly.”

JP and Brycelyn looked at each other, then shrugged. 

JP reached for Tapestry first. He couldn’t feel a spell around or on the sword, but he did successfully pick it up. Then he paused and just looked at the sword. It was of an average appearance, except the blade seemed to have a blue tint to it and was a bit longer than normal. It also had a full two-hand length hilt instead of the standard one and a half hand length. And it was incredibly well-balanced, as if he could hold it in one hand instead of two.

JP tried that. He could indeed hold and balance the sword with one hand, but probably couldn’t have fought with it accurately. But it did feel like he was being watched by some figure in the distance, a shadow of some kind, and he could talk to it or summon it or something if he concentrated enough on the sensation.

Instead of trying it, he turned to Brycelyn and offered it to her.

Brycelyn took it easily, holding it just fine once JP let go.

Nate sighed. “Good. Stay close. We need to take it back to the tower room, and quickly.”

“Why?” JP asked, aware Brycelyn was giving Tapestry the same lookover he had. Was she also going to sense the shadowy figure?

“We’re running out of time.” Nate urged them back into the hall, then started leading them back through the maze of hallways and turns they’d taken to get to the sword room in the first place. “We’ll talk about Tapestry later, when it’s safer.”

Brycelyn handed the sword back to JP, seemingly more interested in returning to the tower room undetected than investigating this right now, which was probably a good idea.

So JP just followed, feeling very aware of the shadowy figure that seemed to be watching from a distance.


	9. Leaving Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter. :D

Usually, Molly woke at or a bit before dawn and went and did her various duties around the fortress before Wade even woke up.

But not today.

Today, she was woken by Wade moving and getting up -- even though it was completely dark in their room.

That’s right.

This was the day Wade and Pat were leaving for Primus, along with the several hundred new soldiers that were as ready to go as they could be -- most of them having served time in the army or a local guard before, and thus already having armor and at least some training.

And Molly was staying in Septimal. That thought weighed on her for a minute, while Wade lit some candles for light.

“Are we sure I’m ready to manage the Realm?” Molly asked quietly, looking on as Wade pulled on the first of the many layers he would have to wear for protection. 

“You’ll be fine.” Wade assured.

“How do we know that?” It wasn’t at all cold in the room, with it being summer and all, but a cool breeze seemed to sweep into the room from some unshuttered window and chill Molly. She pulled the light blanket on the bed around her tightly. “I don’t know much of anything about trade or the Realm’s economy or what to do if Suzerain invades through the ports here.”

“Bob and Mandy and Marie know what to do if you get attacked, and there’s a bunch of books you can read on everything else if you want to really catch up. JP was supposed to be reading them, but...” Wade sighed, reaching for the leather armor he always wore under his day-to-day clothes. “You know more about trade and how at least Septimal’s economy functions than you think -- you’ve lived here your entire life, and you’ve seen patterns. Mandy should be able to help you with that, too. The farms tend to handle themselves pretty well, as do the villages and towns, so long as you don’t change too much on them in a short amount of time.” Wade shrugged. “If it weren’t for the big cities and ports and the Realms being so large, there probably wouldn’t even be a need for nobility.”

“Except for the protection spells.”

“Except for the protection spells.” Wade gave her a comforting smile. “You’ve been better able to sense when they need renewing than I have recently, so I’m not worried about that.”

Molly shrugged. “It’s just when it starts fraying.”

“Fraying?”

Molly paused, looking at Wade. “You don’t see it that way?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“When I perform the protection spells, I always see a, a tapestry of magic and energy stretching out over the entire Realm, like woven cloth.” Molly frowned. “It goes into the sea a little bit, where it has a neat edge that doesn’t fray very quickly at all. Then, with the borders of Bossatron and the Land of the Squirrels, it also has neat edges, but those ones fray quickly, like a rug that gets stepped on a lot. The border into the Sixth Realm...” Molly trailed off for a minute.

“Is something wrong with it?”

“It doesn’t have a neat edge.” Molly looked up at Wade, meeting his gaze. “It’s like someone cut through the tapestry. That one frays the fastest. The protection spells re-weave the tapestry, at least as much as it can.”

“I’ve never seen that.” Wade paused. “I’ve never woven anything, though, so that might be why.”

“It’s not my favorite activity.” Molly said dryly. “It’s a lot harder than it looks.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Wade frowned. “I’ll talk to one of the other Ladies when I get to Primus. Maybe one of them has seen what you have.”

“What’s the likelihood one of the Lords has?”

“Well, I don’t think many of us have ever even tried weaving, but I’ll ask around. I wouldn’t be surprised if Matthias has, honestly.”

Molly smiled at the thought.

“Oh, about the magic of the Realm.” Wade picked up his chain mail and grimaced at it before pulling it on. “If worst comes to worst and you do get attacked here, or anywhere in the Realm, the magic will help you. You might not be able to really control it, since you don’t have the right kind of binding to it, but it will help.”

“That sounds terrifying.”

“It's incredibly powerful, to say the least. I've personally never seen it happen, but I know it has. Cry did it to deal with the Destroyer.”

Cadassi.

“Does that mean I could handle a demon with it?” Molly knew normal demons would die to regular weapons, if you did enough damage. But the powerful ones... Normal weapons seemed to more annoy them than do actual fatal damage. The bloody demon at the wedding had taken immense amounts of damage from all the guards attacking it, but it hadn't died until Wade had stabbed it -- with his very enchanted sword.

“Most of them, probably. If you remember JP's story, he still had to actually kill the Destroyer once Cry weakened it. I have no idea how it would work on either of the demon princes.”

A soft knock on the door before it cracked open. “Everything's ready to go.” Pat's voice said through the crack. “I'm just waiting for you.”

“I'm almost ready.” Wade sat in the chair near the door and pulled on his boots.

“I'll be here.” The door closed.

Molly swung her legs out from under the sheets. “I'll see you out.”

Wade nodded.

Molly pulled her considerably less complicated outfit on while Wade armed himself fully -- Molly hadn't been fully aware how many weapons Wade owned until she saw him equip them all. A knife down each boot, two daggers at his right hip, his sword at his left, and his gauntlets with enough studs on them to seriously mess up your arm or face. He had a leather strap diagonally across his back, too, and Molly couldn't help but wonder what that was for.

Wade walked over to one of the other chairs in the room and reached behind it, only to pull out a full-sized red and black shield and swing it over his back, apparently holding it on with that mysterious diagonal strap.

“Why was that behind the chair?”

“It's a bit too big to keep anywhere else.”

Molly gave him another look over as she pulled on her own boots. He was certainly wearing heavier armor than the last time he'd traveled, but it wasn't really what she had expected.

“You don't have much in the way of plate armor. Or a helmet.”

“I've got a helmet.” Wade said. “Plate armor isn't really my style, but I'll put on some of the accessories when it comes to an actual battle -- I definitely don't want another shoulder or arm injury.”

“Well, they both almost killed you, so that sounds like an amazing idea.”

Wade looked at Molly, completely silent for a long minute. Then he was hugging her, holding her surprisingly gently for being decked out in metal and leather. “I'll come back.”

Molly hugged him back, feeling tears run down her face. “And if you don't?”

Wade went silent for a minute. They both knew the answer to that. Molly would be given an arranged marriage of some kind, depending on who was still alive at the end of the war.

Just like she would if Wade ended up becoming King because Josh died and Princess McLoughlin didn't.

“I’ll come back.” Wade assured. “I promise.”

Molly’s response was a shaky breath.

“I’ll try and talk to you every night when Pat and I stop for the night. And Phil is going to be talking to you, too, so you won’t be facing even the most specific things alone.”

“Does that mean Dan’s going to Avalier?”

“He’s leaving later today.”

“I’ve never accepted a communication spell before.” Molly said. (She had once accidentally denied one while practicing with Marie.) “How will I...”

“You’ll figure it out.” Wade’s voice was steady. “I’m sure of it.”

Molly sighed, but broke the hug. “You need to go. Can’t keep Pat waiting too long.”

Wade seemed to correctly translate this as ‘don’t stay and make this harder than it is,’ because he merely opened the door and stepped into the common area, where Pat and Marie were quietly talking.

“You ready, then?” Pat looked up.

“As ready as I ever will be.” Wade replied simply.

Pat sighed. “Alright.” He straightened, and Molly realized he was wearing just as much armor as Wade was -- except he probably didn’t even own an actual armor-y helmet because of his beanie. Which didn’t really seem all that safe, but it was almost impossible to get that beanie away from him.

The four of them walked down to where Bill and Pat’s new horse -- which he had taken to calling Epona, just like its predecessor -- were waiting just outside the stables. Honestly, a lot more than just the horses were waiting outside the stables -- several of the fortress garrison were going along with Pat and Wade as a sort of guard. Apparently it was to be expected to see a lot of guards around when you were engaged to the Heir to the entirety of the Realms. 

The salty air hit Molly like a barrel full of bricks as she stepped outside, and she sighed. Summer was definitely in full swing, even as far north as they were. All the planting had been done for the farms, but would there be enough people around to harvest everything needed before it rotted on the vine or stalk or whatever a given crop grew on?

There were torches around the area, of course, but they weren’t really needed for light this morning -- the sun was just barely beginning to rise over the plains and farms, and the large golden moon was still flooding the ground with light.

“Good morning, milord, Protector.” The greeting, and several variants of it, came as the soldiers noticed Wade and Pat.

“Good morning, milady.” One of the soldiers bowed to Molly slightly.

“Oh. Good morning.” Molly looked at Wade in confusion. Why had the soldier bowed to her?

“They know you’re Acting Lady.” Wade glanced over his shoulder to answer. “That you’re in charge now.”

“Now now? Or after you leave Septimal now?”

Wade chuckled. “To keep you from ordering me around, I’m going to say after I leave Septimal.”

Molly rolled her eyes. “Would I do that?”

“I think you should give her the power now.” Pat said. “She already orders you around.”

Wade pulled Molly into one last hug. “That’s alright.”

“Be safe.”

“Of course. Have I ever not been?” Wade grinned cheekily at her before swinging into his saddle.

Bill flicked his ear.

Wade patted Bill’s neck. “Don’t tell her.”

Molly put her hands on her hips. “Are you talking to your horse?”

“No.” Wade looked from Molly to Bill. “You’re not supposed to let her catch on.” His voice was soft, like he was whispering, but he sounded more amused than secretive.

“Wade.” Molly shook her head.

Wade laughed slightly.

“I don’t know what I came in on, but it looks hilarious.” Bob’s voice said from behind them.

“Good morning, Bob.” Pat pulled himself onto Epona Two. “You’re up just in time to see us leave.”

“Yeah, I don’t envy you.”

“I don’t envy your job.” Pat grinned at Marie. “If Wade and I come back and find either of our ladies missing, for whatever reason, we’re going to have words.”

Wade pulled Bill around slightly, an unreadable expression on his face. “Please don’t challenge him to a duel.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be the one dueling him.” Pat grinned at Wade. “You would be.”

Wade sighed, and Bill started moving towards the exit of the fortress.

“He didn’t deny it.” Pat pointed out. “Come on, Epona.”

The battle horse flicked an ear at Pat, but obeyed.

Marie leaned slightly close to Molly. “You know, Pat talks to his horse too.”

Molly just looked over at her. 

Marie smiled. “He’s been doing it for years.”

“That’s weird.”

“It’s endearing.”

Molly rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t really suit Wade.”

“It’ll grow on you.”

“I hope not.” Molly turned, and as the rest of the soldiers left, walked back into the fortress. “Now come on. We’ve got a Realm to keep running.”


	10. Phil and Dan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't a bonus chapter, it's supposed to be Wednesday's chapter. Because, guess what, chapters are getting released on both Saturdays and Wednesdays now. :D

Phil Lester, one of the two Lords of the Third Realm, threw open the shutters to the windows in his room, taking deep breaths of the warm summer air. Then he stood in the sunlight for a long minute, simply appreciating it.

That done, he turned, jumping slightly when he saw someone leaning against the far wall of his room, near the door.

“Good morning.” Pj said simply. “How was your morning photosynthesis?”

“We've been over this, Peej. I don't photosynthesize. I'm not a plant.”

Pj stood and picked a leaf off Phil's shoulder and held it out to him. “That's why your room has so many unusual bits of furniture. Right. How could I forget.”

Phil sighed, glancing at the planters and pots taking up pretty much every surface, including the long one next to his bed (in case he sprouted a plant or sixteen in his sleep). “Leave my plants out of this.”

“If you say so.” 

Phil shook his head. Pj had been making comments like that for years, ever since the two had first met so very long ago. “I do say so. These guys make your job easier.” Phil gently touched a leaf of a nearby plant.

Pj laughed slightly. “Really, Phil, unless you're carrying a plant around with you, it's not going to make a lot of difference if someone attacks you.”

Phil shrugged, walking past his Protector into the common area he and Dan shared. “Is Dan up yet?”

“Haven't checked.”

Phil glanced around the common area and shook his head. Dan wasn't even packed for travel, and he was supposed to be leaving for the ports in a few hours. His door to his room wasn't even open.

Hopefully he was at least awake.

Phil walked over to the couch shoved against the wall and the large plant next to it. “Let's see what Green Dan has to say.”

Pj, fortunately, didn’t comment on the fact that Phil had named one of his plants after Dan, or that Phil used it to see how Dan was doing when Dan wasn’t saying anything (for whatever reason). Of course, Pj had been there when Phil had tied the plant to Dan’s life energy, so the Protector probably knew better.

The dark green plant didn’t so much as rustle as Phil approached, unlike most plants. In fact, it seemed to be wilting a little bit, even though Phil made sure to take very good care of this plant in particular. Phil crouched next to it and touched one of the leaves, only to have the plant remain completely inactive.

“Oh.” Phil sighed, letting the leaf drop. “I know what the problem is.”

Pj walked past the couch and dropped into a chair while Phil stood. They’d been through this before; they both knew the drill.

Phil walked over to Dan’s closed door and knocked on it. “Dan?”

No response.

Phil knocked again. “Dan? Your plant told me what’s going on.”

No response.

Phil sighed, putting his hand on the door handle. “Alright, I’m coming in.” He hated going into Dan’s room without permission, but Dan needed a friend and wasn’t going to be saying anything. Even though he technically had permission to do this, from past discussions.

He still didn’t like doing it.

Phil opened the door slowly, scanning Dan’s room as it became visible. Well, it looked like Dan was almost entirely packed, if one could judge from the mess on the floor. (Phil was hoping.)

Then Dan’s bed came into view, and Dan. Dan, face down on the top of it, arms to the side. 

Phil closed the door behind him and went and sat next to Dan. Normally, he wouldn’t say anything unless Dan’s regular existential crisis got extremely bad, but they really didn’t have time for it. Besides, this was the third one this week. 

“We’re all going to die.” Dan’s voice was muffled from Dan’s face being buried in the monochromatic blanket on the bed. 

“It’s possible.” Phil admitted, grabbing one of his feet and pulling it onto his knee. It was certainly possible -- the Fourth Realm was the only thing standing between them and Suzerain. 

“We’re expecting to lose the Fourth Realm, aren’t we?”

“I hope not.” They were probably going to lose at least most of the Fourth Realm before they could even fully get enough of an army to deal with Suzerain’s forces.

“And then we’re not going to have enough food for winter. And more people will die.”

“It will be hard, but we’ve been preparing for something like this.” Phil pointed out. The large number of food stores had started as a way to help ease Dan’s worries when he’d first arrived in the Realm almost nine years ago, but it had proved invaluable during the plague and would be again during this war, especially as they received refugees from the Fourth Realm.

“We can’t handle all of this together. How are we supposed to handle this apart?”

“We can handle it together. We’ll be fine apart. We can still talk to each other, after all. We can both initiate communication spells, so you can talk to me whenever you need to and I can do the same to you.”

Dan sighed and rolled over, flopping his hand into Phil in the process. “True.” He sighed again. “It’s going to be so strange. I haven’t been to Avalier at all in nine years and now I don’t even get to show you what it’s like.”

“We’ll get to visit together one day.” Phil smiled. 

“Yeah, that kind of leaves the Realm without any nobility. That’s a bad thing.” Dan sat up.

“We’ll find someone. Even if they’re from another Realm.”

Dan paused, then looked at Phil. “Think we’ll end up having JP and Brycelyn as our replacements?”

“If we can’t find someone, it seems likely.”

“Somehow that thought is comforting.” Dan murmured. “Of course, this is all assuming they even come back alive and sane.”

“Of course they will. You’ll get them just fine.”

“I’ll probably have to sneak into Suzerain for that. Not sure how I feel about going into demon territory, honestly.”

“There are regular people there.” Phil pointed out. “Declaring war on us wasn’t a unanimous decision. I’m sure someone will be willing to help. Maybe a diplomat or something from Avalier that’s been in Suzerain a while?”

“Avalier generally tries not to send people into Suzerain if we can help it.” Dan leaned forward and grabbed a sock. “Help me finish packing, would you? I have no idea where my sword is in all this mess.”

“Why? What happened?” Phil stood and started looking for Dan’s sword (not that either of them had seen it in months -- Dan preferred wearing his daggers, as they were easier to hide).

“Well, my cousins -- third or fourth cousins, I think is the actual family relation -- are the royals there. When I was about thirteen or so, the Queen and Prince Husband Guy sent their second kid over as part of some diplomatic thing. He completely disappeared off the face of the planet.”

“Some diplomatic thing?”

Dan threw something into his travel trunk -- the same one he had when he’d come to live in Triol, if Phil remembered correctly. “Yeah, the prince was supposed to be there for a few months and then come back, but he never did come back. I remember hearing he’d probably died when a shadow showed up -- at least, he was never seen again.”

“That’s awful!” Phil stared at Dan, eyes wide.

“He was a nice kid. Fantastic on most instruments, too.” Dan smiled briefly, and Phil wondered how in the world he had ended up with Dan as his best friend. They could have easily ended up absolutely hating each other, given that neither of them had actually agreed to being the person getting married for the treaty with Avalier, or that neither of them had agreed to marry another guy. Phil could have completely ended up with someone else as his best friend (Pj, probably).

No, that wasn’t quite true. If he and Dan hadn’t been such good friends two years earlier -- no, it was almost three years by now -- when the plague had hit the Third Realm, they would both be dead because they wouldn’t have been able to heal each other with their respective magics.

“You’re distracted.” Dan’s words interrupted Phil’s thoughts. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering where I would be without you as my friend.”

“Dead, probably.” Dan grabbed the lid of his trunk. “Alright. Just got to close this and find my sword and I’m ready to go.”

Phil looked at the state of Dan’s trunk and shook his head. “Good luck with that. I’ll keep looking for your sword. Are you wearing your armor?”

“I’m always prepared for an attempted assassination.” Dan said perfectly seriously, closing the trunk and sitting on it. “Except, you know, when we hold court. Then I’m brave and trust the guards to take care of it.”

Phil laughed. “You’re probably going to be better off wearing chain mail along with your leather.”

“I know.” Dan snapped his trunk locked with a grunt. “It’s under the bed. I’ll be pulling it on in just a minute.”

Phil nodded, taking another step to search another logical place to store a sword. Instead, he tripped.

Dan looked up. “You okay?”

Phil rolled to his knees. “I think so. Look what I found, though.” He reached to what had tripped him and held it up. It was Dan’s sheathed sword.

“I have no idea what it was doing there.” Dan said simply. Then he paused. “You’re supposed to be talking with Heiress Molly, right? Help her manage the Seventh Realm?”

Phil nodded, holding out Dan’s sword for him to take.

Dan took it. “I’d like to talk to her, just in case something goes wrong and I end up running into her Protector -- the one that’s a demon and all.”

“Let’s not overwhelm her.” Phil said. “Let me talk to her a bit first, and then you can join in if she says it’s okay.”

“Sure thing.” Dan stood and put on his sword. “Let’s do that, then.”

Phil nodded and prepared to reach most of the way across the kingdom to talk to someone he’d never really talked to before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that at some point I stopped adding chapter summaries.


	11. Baroness Lilith

JP was woken by Dante borking and Pillow squeaking. While neither of these were particularly alarming -- Brycelyn was sure Pillow would be able to make more and more sounds as it got older, and Dante was a dog and dogs borked and boofed and boffed -- the combination of them never meant good things.

JP sat up, scanning the room for whatever was causing the sounds. Were the two small friends fighting again? Was Dante trying to eat Pillow?

Nope. There was a demon in the room -- one JP didn’t recognize. It was pretty amorphous, though it seemed to be trying to take a vaguely humanoid shape. At least, as much as you could shape what appeared to be absolute nothingness.

_ “Where is it.” _ The words weren’t so much spoken as vibrated from the inside of JP’s skull.

JP blinked, even as Dante scrabbled at the side of the bed trying to get up -- probably to hide from the demon.

Where was Nate? JP glanced around the room again, only to realize Nate was on the floor of the tower room, breathing heavily -- was his leg bleeding?

_ “Where is it.” _

“Look, I don’t know what it is you’re talking about.” JP shook his head. He’d never had to deal with weird wake-up situations like this when he wasn’t a noble. Well, he’d dealt with some, but only what his siblings had brought to the table -- nothing magical, nothing demons, nothing incredibly dangerous.

Smoky tendrils of nothingness spread out from the demon in front of JP and grabbed him, lifting him into the air.

“Well, excuse you.” JP frowned at it, even as it tightened its grip around his torso and arms. It was strange, being held by nothing. “I didn’t say you could pick me up. Or wake me up, for that matter.”

The tendrils tightened around JP, making it almost impossible for him to breathe. More than that, something was starting to pin down his whole body, like an ultra heavy blanket wrapping him tight.

“Let go of him.” Brycelyn ordered in her nobility voice.

The demon completely ignored her. Or at least, JP didn't hear any response. That could have been because JP could practically feel his ribs breaking, bending too much for safety. Or because he was now painfully low on air and his lungs were on fire.

“Veosur, you were told to find information about the missing sword, not kill the nobles.” The voice was familiar, just barely different than Gar’s. The Demon Prince’s voice. (Why there was a difference, JP didn’t know. Magic, probably.)

A sigh echoed through JP’s mind, but then he could breathe -- forget that he was on the floor and almost definitely had broken ribs, he could breathe. Though the blanket was still there.

_ “Spoilsport.” _

Brycelyn’s arms slid around JP, pulling one of his over her shoulders before she stood and dragged him into a more upright position.

“Orders are orders.” The Demon Prince dipped his head, seeming to smile slightly as he casually leaned against the tower wall. It was hard to tell if he was actually smiling or not, seeing as he was in what must have been his full demon form instead of the partial one he’d taken so frequently at the demon camp, or the one when he’d visited JP in the dungeon. 

There was something very terrifying about knowing that Gar probably wasn’t at all in control of the figure in front of JP and Brycelyn. How could he be? There was no indication of any sort of help coming. 

How did it work, anyway? What decided when Gar was in control and what decided when the Demon Prince was in control? Was there really any difference at this point? There must be -- Gar wouldn’t have helped them the night before if they were one and the same. Would he?

Did it depend on the demon binding? Orders of some kind? Earlier, Gar had warned them Baroness Lilith was planning on killing them early and had brushed it off as not having been ordered not to. Was it that?

_ “What did you do with the sword?” _ The voice sounded suspicious.

“I destroyed it.” The Demon Prince folded his arms. “Imagine what would happen if the prophecies were actually fulfilled.”

_ “We won last time. We can win again.” _

The Demon Prince stopped leaning against the wall, shaking his head. “Being reckless gets you nowhere. I'm sure Cadassi and Boldach can tell you all about that.”

_ “They failed to complete their assassinations. I will not fail my assignments.” _

“We'll see.” The Demon Prince made a shooing motion. 

The amorphous demon -- Veosur -- floated out of the room and down the stairs. 

The Demon Prince turned to JP and Brycelyn, then just looked at them for a long moment with an annoyed look on his wolf face. “I was sent to fetch you. The Baroness wants to share her meal.”

JP blinked. “Did she send you to fetch us because you’re a wolf?”

“Not if she wants to stay living.”

“I thought she would have put it in your orders that you couldn’t kill her.” Nate’s voice was definitely pained. “Seeing as she was the one who has you bound and all.”

The Demon Prince’s ears flicked. “I can’t kill her if it’s deliberate. But I have no orders to save her if there’s an accident or assassination attempt.”

“You’re creepy.” JP said. 

“I know.” The Demon Prince dipped his head, smiling. “Come on. Out the door.”

JP frowned. He wasn't sure he could move quickly with the blanket weighing so much. But he would try.

Brycelyn hesitated, but moved, pulling JP along with her, when the Demon Prince took a step towards them.

Right. No point in antagonizing the powerful demons if they could help it. Smart thinking.

The Demon Prince turned to Nate, who had managed to push himself to one knee by this point. “I’ll take them. Try not to be dead when we get back.”

JP paused. “Isn’t he like...tied to us with a magical rope?”

“I was the one that put it there.” The Demon Prince turned back to JP. “I can temporarily remove it. Switch it, rather, since I’m not allowed to let you escape today.”

“Then why haven't other demons done that and dragged us all over?” Brycelyn asked. 

“They can't. It's my spell, I'm the only one that can remove or alter it.” The Demon Prince's wing shifted, as if he was going to use it for something. 

As the three of them exited the room, Nate pulled himself into a sitting position, grimacing at the gash bleeding freely on his thigh. “Why do demons carry weapons? Aren't they scary enough as is?”

The Demon Prince's rather paw-like hand brushed against the pommel of his sword. It was definitely the one Molly had made, somehow not showing any wear and tear from the fights it had already gone through. 

But instead of answering Nate like he had been, he just ushered JP and Brycelyn down the stairs. 

“Oh,” Brycelyn glanced at JP before returning her attention to descending the stairs while supporting him, “we should have reminded Sharp not to let Dante under the bed. I've been working on a small tapestry and have some of the supplies stored there.”

Clever Brycelyn. 

“I'm sure he knows. He does watch us all the time.” The heavy blanket wrapped itself around JP's feet and he stumbled slightly, dropping down an extra stair in his step. 

And though JP couldn't see it, the Demon Prince tilted his head slightly and gave the back of JP's head a very intense look, like he was seeing something nobody else could.

\-----

This wasn't going to go well. 

JP's first clue was the jeering looks he and Brycelyn got as they were escorted down various major hallways. Looks that turned into scoffs and mocking laughs and eventually into full-blown insults. 

“Can you walk by yourself?” Brycelyn asked quietly as they got the first scoffs thrown at them. 

“I'll do my best.” JP murmured back, pulling away from Brycelyn. Instantly, the invisible blanket of doom got underfoot and kept forcing JP to slip slightly. 

He didn't let that stop him. 

As soon as JP got the hang of walking with this invisible blanket trying to kill him, Brycelyn simply held her head high, even as the insults got more and more offensive and began targeting not just the two Realms nobles but their families and kingdom. 

They were trying to humiliate JP and Brycelyn, something JP noticed fairly quickly. It didn't seem to be working on her, though, so JP wouldn't let it work on him. Well, he wouldn't let anyone know. Some of these things really were very offensive. 

Someone in the crowd gasped as they turned another corner, and then said “nobody said how young they are.”

An uneasy silence fell in the hall, even though the hall before and the next one coming up were working hard to cause humiliation.

“They're not even adults.” Whether it was the first person or a second, JP couldn't tell. Either way, it opened up a flood of whispers and half-audible questions. 

“Why were children taken prisoner?” “The Baroness told us they were in an arranged marriage. I thought that meant they had to be adults.” “They wouldn't have any say in the Realms declaring war on us.” “Why would she threaten to kill children?” “They look awful, poor things.” “No wonder Avalier and Bossatron have started preparing for war.” “He's injured. Look how he's walking.” “Why did she want us to yell at kids?” “If she's gone so low now, what will happen when the fighting comes?”

The whispering spread, until it was all JP heard as the Demon Prince steered him and Brycelyn through the halls.

Honestly, it was way more uncomfortable than the yelling and insults.

When they came to a stop, the invisible blanket of doom got heavier. JP internally frowned at it. 

Baroness Lilith gave them a glance. “It’s customary to bow to a host.”

JP glanced at Brycelyn. She knew what to do better than he did, he would follow her lead.

Brycelyn simply held still and met Baroness Lilith’s gaze. “It’s customary to treat political prisoners with at least basic courtesy.”

Whispers ran around the room.

“I have treated you with all the common courtesy you could desire.”

“Both of us spent time in dungeon cells. If that’s your common courtesy, I pity your people.”

More whispers, sounding shocked and outraged.

JP was more impressed with the fact that both Brycelyn and Baroness Lilith had completely civil, even pleasant, expressions on their faces. He’d seen Wade do it before, when a conversation with a representative of a different country farther west had gone really weird at Mark’s wedding, but he still had no idea how it was done.

And he had missed whatever Baroness Lilith had said, but there were a lot of those shocked whispers going on, so things probably weren’t going very well for her.

It was at this point JP noticed there was only one chair at the table. Did she intend to try and embarrass them by making them sit on the floor? Clearly she hadn’t anticipated JP having done that five or six times before -- not counting the demon camp. Sure, he’d been with his childhood friends when he’d done it (most of whom had seemed to want favors of some kind the last time he’d spoken to them -- they didn’t seem to realize what sort of rules bound nobles), but he had certainly done it before.

“Our banter has gone on long enough.” Baroness Lilith’s voice was just a bit too sharp to be mistaken for friendliness. “I invited you here for a meal.”

JP glanced around. Most of the people that had been in the room had already left. Those who were still around were guards and some of the demons and a few completely resolute people who clearly wanted to support the Baroness no matter what. 

“Have a seat.” Baroness Lilith gestured to the floor.

Brycelyn sat, cross-legged. JP did the same.

Well, it was a little cold for comfort, but it was nothing like the dungeon had been. Though everything felt cold for comfort, even his own knees and legs. Which was strange. He’d been just fine earlier. Of course, earlier he hadn’t had the invisible blanket of doom sinking farther and farther under his skin (while still feeling like it was on top of his skin).

He probably should have told Brycelyn about it while they were walking. There certainly wasn’t any chance of it now, not that this was going on.

There were three main things JP noticed during the ‘meal’ offered him and Brycelyn. First, the Demon Prince was getting more and more annoyed at the Baroness as the meal went on, judging by the way he moved and his ears flicking every time she talked. Second, Brycelyn was really a good teacher for this sort of thing -- just by watching what she was doing JP had managed to not embarrass himself. Third, it was harder and harder to stay awake the longer they were there, largely because the invisible blanket of doom kept getting heavier and heavier, almost like it was trying to force JP into a probably-eternal sleep of some kind.

The Baroness received a message of some kind, then turned to JP and Brycelyn on the floor and smiled. “You two will be escorted back to your room now. Demon Prince, after you’ve done that, prepare your friends for an attack. We need to bring Bossatron to its knees for offering help to the Realms.”

The Demon Prince dipped his head, gesturing for Brycelyn and JP to stand, even as Baroness Lilith left the room. Brycelyn got up just fine, but the invisible blanket of doom was pretty much squashing JP by now and he couldn’t do much more than flail.

The Demon Prince simply picked JP up and carried him, giving him the dignity of being carried in arms rather than being slung over a shoulder.

Brycelyn was right next to JP’s head. That was just about all he could see of her.

JP tried to fix his gaze on her, but simply found himself sliding into sleep. No. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t wake up. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he knew it.

“You can’t sleep yet, JPar.” The words were murmured so softly JP was sure he’d imagined them until he caught the Demon Prince giving him a worried glance.

Then they were going up stairs -- at least, that was what it felt like. Were they already back to the tower? How quickly had Gar been moving?

“What happened to him?” Nate’s voice demanded. “You were supposed to keep him safe.”

The Demon Prince set JP down on the bed before sighing. “Close the door.”

Soft footsteps, then the sound of the door closing. Brycelyn must have done it.

“What are you doing?” Nate asked.

The Demon Prince didn’t answer, but the sensation of a spell going up around the tower room was pretty obvious to anyone who had ever encountered a protection spell. In fact, it felt almost exactly like one -- but that was impossible, wasn’t it?

Then the form of the Demon Prince shimmered, and Gar’s familiar form appeared.

“Why did you do that?” Nate sounded suspicious.

“I need to be able to access my human magic.” Gar murmured. “I can’t do that while in a demon form. At least not well.”

“Why?”

“Shush.” Gar placed one hand on JP’s forehead and the other on his chest, right over his heart. 

The blanket shifted, and then raised slightly. Warm, familiar energy filled the space between where JP had been squashed to and where the invisible blanket of doom now lay. Realms magic.

JP opened his eyes, only to see Gar looking very tired. “How did you do that?”

“It’s a temporary solution, not a permanent one.” Gar said as JP sat up. “You’ll feel better for now, but you aren’t.”

JP decided to try standing up. Instead of actually standing like he wanted, he staggered and fell onto the floor.

Ow. 

“What did you do to him?” Brycelyn demanded, taking a step closer to JP and then standing between him and Gar. 

Gar glanced around Brycelyn's legs, much like JP was doing as he struggled to push himself onto an elbow. He could definitely still feel the blanket. 

“I didn't do anything to hurt him. That's the work of Veosur the Lifeless. She's a general among the demons for a reason.”

“Why don't you fix it, then?”

“I did what I could.” Gar's shoulders slumped. “Anything more would give him a fate worse than death.”

“How do you know?”

“I've tried before. It... It didn't go well.” Gar sighed. “Maybe he can help you. I don't know. If he can't, JP will die and Veosur will take control of his body. I'm sorry.”


	12. A Call for Help

“I wonder if anyone is awake at home.” Pat mused softly.

Wade looked over at him, then at the sky. They’d already been on the move today for over an hour, and the sun was just now coming up. “Probably not. Well, maybe Entoan, if he took another night shift guarding Molly.”

“How was she last night?” Pat patted Epona between the ears, getting a friendly flick in return.

“Stressed, but holding up.” Wade sighed. “It’s only been a few weeks and I’m already wishing this was all just over.”

“You were wishing that as soon as we got news of the war.” Pat pointed out. “We both were.” A faint laugh floated up to them, and Pat sighed. “They won’t be laughing after their first battle.”

Wade frowned. “I know. But they’ll learn to laugh again. Just like we did.”

Pat smiled at Wade. “We’re assuming they’re coming back.”

“I have to hope. If I don’t, how are they supposed to know what it looks like when everything gets sad?”

Pat met Wade’s eyes for a moment. “Okay. You do that. Let me know when you need help. In the meantime, I’m going to think of what to say to them when they watch their friends die in battle, because you’re going to have to give that speech a lot and I’m not going to let you deal with that burden alone.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course.” Pat grinned. “I can’t let you deal with all the emotional baggage alone.” Pat paused. “Well, I could, but that probably wouldn’t do good things to you and your brother already chewed me out for you almost dying in the demon camp, so I’m not going to.” 

Wade rolled his eyes before letting his gaze drift south once more. “We’re almost to the border of the Realm.”

Pat looked at it. There were no visible markers for the border -- no signs or trail posts or cairns or literally anything. It was just forest and rock like usual. Not even a river. “You didn’t used to be able to tell where it was just by looking at it.”

“I’ve been Lord here for almost a year, Pat.” Wade didn’t take his eyes off the border. “I guess I’ve gotten attuned to the magic enough.”

“Has it been?” Pat counted on his fingers. “What do you know, it has. You’ve only almost died twice. Not your worst year ever.”

“I thought we weren’t counting the road outside Triol.”

“I’m not.”

Wade scrunched his eyebrows at Pat. “Then what year are you talking about?”

“Our second year in Bossatron.” Pat raised his eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten following Jack over all the mountains. And off the mountains. Via a river. And those terrifying sheep.” Pat shuddered. “And the storm. Both of the summer storms and that winter storm. And that bear.”

“That was the year with the road outside Triol.” Wade said.

Pat sighed. “That was an adventure. You almost died seven times. Would have been six if we hadn’t warned Phil about Dan coming over for the treaty and all.”

“It’s been nine years.” Wade sighed. “We used to be like them.” He glanced at the laughing soldiers behind him.

“Yes, when you were nineteen and I was sixteen.” Pat grinned. “Why did they ever have us go anywhere alone? They just sent off the two of us. I had only been your Protector for a year by the time you were sent to Bossatron.” Pat paused. “Which seems like an incredibly bad idea when I look back on it.”

“It was an exercise in independence.” Wade sounded more amused than concerned. “If you remember, we had specific places we had to check in by certain points.”

“We were just a little late to Hextal and MatPat's parents had a search party out looking for us like that.” Pat shook his head. 

A comfortable silence fell. 

“The sweet roll was worth it, though.” Pat glanced at Wade. 

Wade chuckled. “I still can't believe you made search parties get sent out because you wanted a dessert. We hadn't even had lunch yet.”

“Exactly. I was hungry.”

Wade shook his head a bit more, still smiling at the memories. 

“And you had hair back then.” Pat added. 

Wade pretended to sigh offendedly. “How could you, Patrck. I have every bit of hair today that I had then.”

“I'd agree with that. It just moved from the top of your head to your face.”

Wade just looked at Pat before both of them laughed. “Well, you're not wrong.”

“I have yet to be wrong.” Pat declared. 

“Yes you have.”

“No.” Pat shook his head. “No I haven't.”

Wade laughed. “Really? I remember you declaring you’d never get married.”

“Well, I hadn’t met Mk back then.” Pat shrugged. “But it’s not really fair to say something like that. Most Protectors don’t get married. Especially not ones that have to deal with guarding the royals.”

“Deal with?”

“You almost died seven times that year, Wade. Seven.”

“We’re not counting the road outside Triol.” Wade shook his head.

“You’re not. I am.” Pat shook his head. “Seven, Wade.”

“You wouldn’t have met Marie if we hadn’t been delayed from it.”

“We don’t know that.”

Wade just raised an eyebrow.

Pat just grinned at Wade.

Wade rolled his eyes, only to nearly pull Bill to a stop as a communication spell slammed into him full-force – it didn’t even ask for permission to talk, just started.

“Suzerain started attacking us.” Jack sounded furious. “They sent demons, including one of the generals – the Destroyer. We’ve been able to hold them off long enough to evacuate the cities under attack, but I have to give the order to retreat soon or I’ll lose all of my men.”

Wade frowned, aware Pat was giving him a concerned look. “I’ll tell Josh. We’ll see what we can do. It might not be much.”

“Oh, I know. I’ll be in touch, assuming I survive these next battles.” Jack paused. “If I don’t, keep Wiishu safe.”

“I’ll try.”

“Thanks.” Then Jack’s spell was gone.

“Bad news?” Pat asked, even as the soldiers moved to go around them.

“Very bad news. Suzerain’s attacking Bossatron.”

Pat scowled. “Have they no honor? They haven’t even declared war on them.”

“Jack said they sent demons.”

Pat groaned, clearly understanding the implications of what that meant. “No human soldiers?”

Wade shook his head.

\-----

“I’m sending Zombie to you now.” Josh said as soon as Wade managed to contact him, which was more a matter of Josh being unavailable to talk than Wade not having time to try and contact him. “Take half your men and go help. I doubt you’ll be able to find more willing to fight demons, anyway. Zombie will lead the rest of them while you’re gone.”

“When will he be here?”

“He can travel hard and be there in three days. Coordinate with Jack, keep me updated, and be safe.”

“We’ll try.”

“By the way, I just finished talking to Phil. He reported that Dan’s officially left the Third Realm and is on his way to Avalier. It’ll be about a month before I hear much from him, but he is on his way.”

“Suzerain isn’t going to like us trying to steal JP and Brycelyn out from under their noses.” Wade warned.

“They broke the rules when they did it. I’m really not concerned about what they like or what they don’t like right now.”

“Avalier knows, then?” Political prisoners were technically allowed during wars – usually they were ransomed, because it was considered bad manners to do what Suzerain was and threatening death – but it was supposed to be adults that were taken, not teenagers or children. That was a rule that had never been broken before.

“Dan said it was the reason they agreed to help him get them back in the first place. They’re pulling together their army. It will be a while before we get any significant military help from them, especially as they’re going to need to fortify their own borders. If what happened with Bossatron is any indication, Suzerain doesn’t want anyone helping us.”

Wade sighed. “I’ll start seeing who’s willing to separate from the main group. Hopefully it will be enough to make a difference.”

“Alright. I’ll talk to you later, then.” And Josh was gone, leaving Wade tired from two far-reaching communication spells.

“I’ve started asking around,” Pat said, “but I haven’t actually broken the news to anyone. That’s your job.”

Wade gave Pat a sour look. “Thanks.”

“Responsibilities of nobility and all that.” Pat shrugged slightly. “We’ll be stopping in a few hours. It’ll probably be a good time to tell them then.”

Wade sighed.

Pat was right.


	13. Of Bread and Plans

The halls of the fortress in Triol were oddly quiet as Phil walked them. Not because it was any less busy than normal, with various castle staff going about their duties. Most of them were too busy to actually notice it was Phil they were walking past, but those who did paused briefly to bow to him. He’d always been a bit uncomfortable whenever people did it, even though they’d been doing it to him for almost three decades, but he never knew how to ask people to stop. Dan had always told him to ‘just make it an order and be done with it,’ but something about that seemed kind of rude to Phil.

He wasn’t looking forward to the upcoming months. This was in part because the other Realms, at least the northern ones, were sending their soldiers south to the southernmost ones. Most of the soldiers were going to the Fourth Realm, since that was where some fighting had already broken out, but some were stationed in the Second, and some were coming to the Third.

Sure, the Third Realm was the farthest north of the three southern Realms (debatable), but it wasn’t incredibly far away from the border with Suzerain like literally any of the Realms more north. Dan and Phil had once ridden down to the border in two weeks – at almost full gallop, back before they’d had the responsibility of running the Realm, of course. And it probably would have taken them even less time if Phil had gone along with Dan and used a faster horse.

Phil didn’t trust any horses besides his own, so that didn’t happen.

“How am I supposed to prepare the Realm for the fighting that will happen here?” Phil asked, aware Pj was trailing a few feet behind him.

“Well, I suspect most of them already know it’s possible.” Pj replied. “Since you and Dan have sent out a lot of declarations and such about it.”

Phil sighed and uncurled a plant from around his wrist. “Of course we did. I don’t want people to be surprised by something like that. But just because people know it might happen doesn’t mean they’ll be prepared if it does.”

“Do what you’ve been doing.” Pj said calmly. “Prepare for people from the Fourth Realm. Encourage weapons training for the people who aren’t already in the army. Keep the Realm running as normally as you can. Maintain the Protection spells.”

“I was planning on that.” Phil said. “But I’m trying to plan for what to do if the fighting gets this far into the Realm.” Triol, after all, was in the northern half of the Realm. “I’ll have lost most of the Realm.”

“Are you expecting the Fourth Realm to fall?”

“I’m concerned it might.” Phil admitted. “It really depends on the path they’re planning on taking.”

“You think they might go through the Second Realm?” Pj asked. “They would only have to fight their way through one protection spell.”

Phil thought for a minute, then shook his head. “It’s too close to the southern Bossatron border. They’d be facing two armies at once. That’s just not a good tactical decision.” Even with demons.

“Aren’t they attacking that border now?”

Phil shook his head. “The demons are just appearing near Bossatronia.”

“I thought they couldn’t teleport unless they were super powerful.”

“They can’t.” Phil rounded another corner, then came to an abrupt stop. “But Suzerain has both the demon princes under its control. I’m sure they’re powerful enough.” He looked at the planter next to him. “I can store energy in the plants around here. If Suzerain does get this far, it’ll help me defend the fortress.”

“You have a lot of ideas all of a sudden, don’t you.” Pj tilted his head slightly.

“Yes.” Phil started walking again, moving quickly this time. “Where’s Ro? I need to start making arrangements with her.”

Rosanna Pansino, or Ro as she was more commonly known, was the (relatively new) stewardess of the fortress after the last one had died in the plague.

“My job is to keep track of you and not anyone else.” Pj said. “I can’t answer that.”

“Peej, please.” Phil rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t expecting you to answer.”

Pj raised an eyebrow. “Then why’d you ask me?”

Phil just looked at him, then set off to find Ro.

They found her in the kitchen. Not really surprising, considering she’d worked there before becoming Stewardess. Though it did make Phil miss the days when he and Dan had been invited to help her make some dessert of some kind -- even if their decorating skills were rather lacking.

“Hello Phil, Pj.” Ro smiled at them, brushing her hands off on her new apron. “I need to finish this bread, but you’re welcome to speak to me as I knead it.” Oddly enough, there was nobody else in the kitchen -- at least not close by.

“Do you need any help?” Phil asked. He’d gotten somewhat decent at kneading bread over the years of knowing Ro.

“Sure. Wash your hands first.”

Phil moved over to the basin and complied, while Pj simply moved to the side for a little. As soon as Phil walked over to Ro, who had divided the dough into thirds, Pj took his turn washing hands. 

“What are we doing with this bread?” Phil asked, beginning to knead his third.

“Yours is getting made into braids for supper. Pj, you’ll be making rolls. And I’m going to be folding in fruit and nuts into this one for a gift for the priests and priestesses. They’ve been doing a lot of testing for great magic, so I thought it would be nice.”

Phil smiled. “That’s a wonderful idea, Ro.”

They worked in silence for a minute as Phil got the hang of kneading again.

“So I realized something a few minutes ago.” Phil said. “Since we have such a high chance of getting attacked here eventually, it’s smart to put defenses in place around the city and the fortress.”

“Oh, what were your ideas?” Ro scooped chopped nuts out of a bowl and began sprinkling them on the dough before slowly working them in. 

“Well, since we’ll be dealing with demons, our regular fortress and city guards aren’t going to be enough.” Phil frowned briefly. “And we can try increasing the number we have in them, but that’s probably not the best idea with so many people already gone to basic training in the southern part of the Realm. We’ll train people -- mandatory training, I think. We don’t have enough weapons for everyone, but there are alternatives, right?” He looked to Ro for confirmation.

“Almost every kitchen is going to have knives, and I’m sure most of the families in Triol have at least one member that can hunt.” Ro said. “That’s certainly a start.”

“Good.” Phil nodded. “That’ll deal with soldiers that attack. It’s not going to deal with the demons.” 

“I don’t know how to deal with demons, honestly.” Ro admitted. “It must be possible, though. There was one at the wedding, right?”

Phil nodded. 

“It was awful.” Pj shook his head. “I don’t even remember anything after the first two minutes.”

“That’s because you were thrown into a wall.” Phil replied. It had given him and Dan the required time to run -- even with Dan stopping to scoop up a child that had been watching from the shadows. “How many braid loaves am I making, Ro?”

“Six. Four strands each. How were you planning on dealing with the demons, then?” Ro started sprinkling in various dried fruits. 

“Cry did it almost entirely by himself.” Phil mused.

“Cry couldn’t finish the job.” Pj pointed out. “If you used the magic of the Realm, you’d be completely wiped out and I’d still have to actually kill them all. I don’t really think that’s feasible.”

“Not by itself, no.” Phil started dividing his now-kneaded dough into six more-or-less even parts. “I already told you I’m going to be storing energy in all my plants.”

Ro glanced up from shaping her two loaves, but didn’t say anything.

“Right.”

“Ro, we’re going to need to plant a lot of rosebushes over the next few weeks -- as many as we can manage.” Phil paused to get his braid started, then continued. “They’re pretty, for one, and it’ll help keep people cheered up, which is always good. But more importantly, they’ll grow fast if I encourage them to. Literal walls of vines and thorns are going to deter anyone.”

“It’s not going to kill demons, though.” Pj pointed out.

“Not alone.” Phil sighed. “I need to talk to MatPat and see what he used in his weapons last year to kill the demons in the Seventh Realm. I get the feeling a lot of them are plant-based. Or, if they’re not, I can work around it.”

“You’re going to grow a field of deadly flowers in the streets of Triol?”

“What? No. I’m going to figure out what seeds we need and grow a lot of them in my greenhouses. And then I’m going to have every person carry a bag of the seeds with them. When the demons come, they can scatter the seeds as they come to the fortress. I’ll grow the seeds then, with the magic I have stored in the plants -- can I store magic in the ground? -- and I’ll make sure the rosebushes grow a lot then, too. Hopefully, by the time the demons reach the fortress, they’ll be so weak from the flowers that they won’t be able to destroy the rosebushes and either get poked to death or give up.”

“Poked to death by a rosebush.” Pj shook his head. “Sounds awful.”

“That sounds like a decent plan, Lord Lester,” Ro said slowly, “but what if the demons aren’t killed by the plants? Then everyone will be trapped in the fortress.”

Phil sighed. “We have the emergency tunnels running under the dungeon and moat. We’ll have everyone ready to go. Worst comes to worst, you’ll take them out and Peej and I will do our best to stop as many of them as we can here.”

“You’ll die!”

“I certainly hope not.” Phil finished braiding the last of his loaves. “Do we want to put any herbs or seeds on these, Ro? I think they’d look lovely with some thyme.”


	14. Threads of Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter!

Gar hadn’t returned to the tower room in a fortnight, even as the Demon Prince. Normally, that wouldn’t have bothered Brycelyn, but whatever he had done to JP was wearing off. JP wasn’t complaining about it, but Brycelyn could tell. Especially when she held Tapestry. (She had to fit a belt to it somehow, after all.)

Brycelyn was currently examining the probably-magical sword. JP was sleeping fitfully, with Pillow sitting on his chest and watching him and Dante curled into his side. Nate was dozing near the door. Not really surprising, as it was night.

Tapestry. JP had asked why Gar would name his sword that. 

Brycelyn slid her hand over the hilt and closed her fingers over it, then merely watched as the world sprung to life around her. 

Magic was a tapestry. She could see the strings running through everything, faint and shimmery. Soft royal blue threads ran around the walls of the room, seeming both to dip and swirl slightly and hold rigid -- probably in response to the frazzled strings of various colors trying to slip through holes in the soft blue thread. That was the spell Gar had put up, she knew that much. After all, it hadn’t been there before Gar had done whatever he had done to JP. Also, the threads were what made the ribbons tying Nate to Brycelyn and JP -- one for each wrist.

Pale green threads ran through the palace itself, and, as she’d learned when she’d managed to peek out the window with Tapestry in hand, over the land itself. It didn’t seem to be moving very much, but Brycelyn had gotten the sense that it was very much alive. Just sleeping.

Strangely, the threads weren’t just limited to the spells and magic of land, either. They ran through people, too. 

Dante had soft glowy white threads running through him, looking as if they made up his being. Brycelyn could tell where the corgi’s mind and heart were with her eyes closed -- they were the most concentrated intersections of threads.

Pillow had the white threads, and a very pale cornflower blue -- the blue was very small, seeming to emerge from its heart, but it had been slowly spreading through the rest of Pillow’s white threads as Brycelyn had been making these observations.

The white threads also showed up in every person and even a few of the demons that tried to get in through Gar’s blue cloth circling the tower. And all of the demons had a strange, reddish-purple color to their threads, regardless of if they had white threads.

This probably meant white threads were life energy threads and the reddish-purple threads were demonic magic threads. 

Nate had the typical white threads, which probably meant he had been born in the human realm and not the demon one, and conifer green ones that seemed to be slightly vibrating like the string on a lute as a note faded to silence.

JP had a pretty bright blue set of threads, but it was his white threads that were worrying Brycelyn. They were frizzing. Not only that, but they seemed to be frizzing because of heavy threads the same color as the demon that had attacked JP earlier. The shadowy threads were latching onto JP’s life threads, seeming to be trying to tear them apart.

Brycelyn frowned. Gar’s royal blue threads were between the two, but they looked much frailer than the ones surrounding the tower room. As she watched, a few of the smallest threads faded completely and the shadowy ones latched onto JP’s life threads.

Okay, so this was very much not good.

Brycelyn stared at her own hands for a minute, thinking. Some part of her noticed she had fire-blue threads that appeared to be actual flame running alongside her life threads, but most of her was concerned with how to keep JP alive.

A peculiar combination of royal blue threads and reddish-purple threads and bright life threads appeared outside Gar’s spell, then slid through it.

Brycelyn looked up to see the Demon Prince shimmering into his human form. 

“You need to go.” Gar looked sad, but he didn’t really give any indications as to why. “Now.”

Brycelyn stood, sliding Tapestry into the heavy sheath she’d woven for it. The stiff weave held it fine, and she slung the belt over her shoulder. “Why?”

Gar simply turned and woke Nate. “The Baroness wants you two publicly executed tomorrow night.” He turned to JP, then shook his head. “I’m going to get you as far away as I can in the next eighteen hours.”

“Why are you helping them like this?” Nate asked.

“She didn’t order me not to today.” Gar grinned. “Grab everything you need.”

Brycelyn walked over to the bed and scooped her bag from under the bed. It had her sewing supplies, including the fabric scraps and thread pieces she’d been given out of pity. It also had a pocket sewn on it for Pillow to comfortably ride long distances in.

Pillow stood on JP, then hopped willingly into the pocket, squirming slightly until it was settled. Brycelyn swung the strap over her other shoulder.

“Do either of you have shoes?” Gar asked, scooping up JP and Dante in one move.

Brycelyn shook her head. “They never gave them back.”

“Alright.” Gar looked over at Brycelyn. “Keep your hand on that hilt.” Then he turned to Nate. “Hold still a second.”

Brycelyn let her hand drift to Tapestry’s hilt just in time to see royal blue threads surround all of them, shimmering softly.

“Come on.” Gar whispered, leading them out.

The stairs were very cold from lack of sun, but Brycelyn kept following Gar and Nate anyway. Cold feet was better than being dead.

They crept quietly through the palace, but nobody seemed to notice them. Not guards, not demons.

Gar stopped at the stables, where three horses were saddled and ready to go.

“Mount up.” Gar slid JP into one of the saddles, making sure he was properly situated, then put Dante in one of the saddlebags before tying a lead rope from JP’s horse to Nate’s.

Brycelyn slid into one of the other saddles. The next time she put her hand on Tapestry’s hilt, the shimmering ribbons between Nate and her and JP were gone.

“Make for Avalier.” Gar said. “Don’t tell me what route you’re going to take to get there -- the Baroness is likely to send me after you.”

“Isn’t leading you towards Avalier going to just put them in trouble?” Brycelyn asked, letting go of Tapestry to fully take the reins in her hands. 

Gar shrugged. “Not if you’re in the borders of Avalier by the time I catch up with you.”

“What do you mean?”

Gar glanced at Nate, then turned and backed off. “Go. Now. I’ll make sure they don’t discover you missing until tomorrow evening.”

Nate nodded, then kicked his horse into a walk. After a moment, JP’s horse moved as well.

Brycelyn nodded to Gar, who smiled at her and walked back into the shadows of the palace.

\-----

They rode for quite some time before JP groaned and pushed himself into an upright position. “I feel like I’ve been sleeping on a horse.” He rubbed his eyes.

“You have.” Nate said simply, pulling to a stop. “Now that you’re awake, I’m going to untie the lead rope.”

JP ran a hand through his hair, slowly looking around. “Where are we?”

“About thirty-seven miles outside the capital of Suzerain.” Nate said. “We’ll be entering the mountains later today.”

JP blinked, clearly disoriented and tired. “Why are we outside?”

Brycelyn let her hand drop to Tapestry’s hilt as Nate explained what had happened.

Almost all of the blue threads protecting JP from the shadowy threads were gone.

“Nate? Can you tell us more of the story as we keep going?” Brycelyn asked. 

“As long as we don’t go too fast, sure.” Nate said. “And as long as I have lead ropes tied to both your horses.”

JP and Brycelyn nodded, and Nate tied Brycelyn’s horse to his own. 

“Okay. What if I fall asleep again?” JP asked.

“You won’t.” Nate said. “We’ll be found first.”

“Found? By who?”

“The one person that can help you at the moment.” Nate swung his lute into his hands. “Now, are you ready?”

Both of them nodded.

The soft music began again, making the landscape dissolve around Brycelyn -- even Nate and JP vanished from view.

The King from before seemed to be in some sort of courtyard, near what looked to be a garrison. He was a lot older now, and seemed to be a lot more worn down.

“Are you sure you want me to do it?” The voice seemed to belong to someone about Brycelyn’s age.

“You’re skilled enough. Besides, you’ll get along well with my son, which is a quality I want in the head of his personal guard.”

“But I’m his age.”

“It’s alright.” The King smiled at the teen standing in front of him. “You need to get to know him before the wedding next year.”

“What about the war?”

The King sighed. “It’s still going. We’re holding the southern border.”

“I assume I’m going to be training with the prince.”

“Of course. Pick two others you trust. The three of you will be responsible for keeping him safe from now on.”

“This is a lot of responsibility. Are you sure?”

The King nodded, placing his hand on the teen’s shoulder. “Yes, Snow, I’m sure. Find your team and guard my son well.”

The teen bowed. “Yes, your highness.”

The music faded and the world returned, and Brycelyn realized with some surprise they were deep in a forest.

JP’s attention was fixated on something behind Brycelyn.

Brycelyn turned slightly to see a shadowy figure standing there, merely watching them. It was very familiar somehow.

“Oh, good.” Nate sounded tired. “He’s the one that can help you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I'm working on starting a web comic version of some of the adventures that happen outside the main story line, both before and after, so you can follow my tumblr (same username) for updates on that if you want.


	15. The Bossatronian Border

There had only been some 150 soldiers willing to go with Wade and Pat to Bossatron’s aid, but another 100 had come along anyway. It wasn’t a lot, and it would have been more if Wade hadn’t insisted on those with families to support staying in the main group. Oddly, as Wade looked around, he recognized many of the faces from the demon camp. The rest seemed to have come from the city or fortress guards.

“They followed you here because they trust you.” Pat had murmured one night. “They’ve seen what you can do.”

“They’ve seen what demons can do, too.” Wade had replied.

“We’re not on a suicide mission.” Pat said, beginning to brush down Epona. “You value your men too much to do that to them.”

“And if things go wrong?” Wade glanced around the camp, aware many gazes were on him. Whether that was because he was Lord or because he was brushing down Bill himself, he didn’t know.

“Then they’ll give their lives to make sure you make it out.” Pat stroked Epona’s nose for a moment. 

“That shouldn’t be something they have to do.” Wade protested. “It’s not right.”

“War isn’t right, and we have to deal with that.” Pat shrugged. “You’re the Heir to the kingdom, Wade. You’re too valuable to die.”

“It’s not fair to say my life is more valuable than someone else’s.” Wade shook his head.

“We’ve been over this.” Pat glanced at Wade.

Wade sighed. “It’s not fair to say my responsibilities and abilities are more valuable than someone else’s, either.”

“Life isn’t fair.” Pat frowned. “It’s impossible for it to be fair, really.”

Wade patted Bill’s nose, then checked the horse over once again for burrs and knots. Nothing. Good.

“We’re near the border.” Wade changed the subject, knowing now wasn’t a good time to have a discussion about fairness. “We’ll be crossing over tomorrow.”

“Full armor tomorrow, then.” Pat said. “For everyone.”

Wade nodded. “We might be fighting our way to Jack, so yes.”

Jack had been in fairly frequent contact with Wade over the past few weeks. He’d lost some of the major cities in the District he was supposed to take care of, and his siblings hadn’t been faring any better. He’d evacuated as many civilians as he could, but there was only so much he could do. For the past week, he’d been managing to hold off demons at one of his remaining large cities, but it couldn’t last much longer.

“Was he alright the last time you talked to him?” Pat asked. Right. Pat had been receiving private orders from Josh when Wade had been talking to Jack.

“He was alive, but...” Wade shook his head. “He’s losing so many people. I couldn’t tell if he was more sad or angry.”

“That’s fair. Do we have any ideas who we’re facing? Or, at least, who he’s facing?”

“He specifically mentioned one of the demon generals -- the one at Quintal. Beyond that, I don’t have any ideas.”

Pat made a face. “It took over so many of us just to kill it and it didn’t even have the manners to stay dead.”

“I get the feeling manners aren’t taught much in demon school.”

Pat smiled. “Well, why not?”

Wade laughed softly. 

\-----

Molly flopped into one of the chairs in her and Wade’s sitting room and looked at the others with her -- the day after Wade had left, Molly had made the executive decision to have daily meetings here to make life easier.

It was working so far.

“Most of our to-do list is done.” Bob said. “We’re planning another evacuation drill for next week, and every household has at least one person who has and can use a weapon of some kind.”

Molly nodded, making notes and crossing others off. 

“Farms are doing decently.” Marie said. “Small communities have methods for harvest already, and we just got them adapted for the large farms outside the wall. The extra storehouses are halfway built, so that’ll be ready when we need it.”

“Oh good.” Molly sighed. She would still worry about food, but this would help a lot.

“Everything’s good.” Entoan said when Molly looked at him for a report. “Nothing awful happened.”

“Did you actually tell them?” Nin asked, mending something Molly hadn’t known needed to be mended. “Or did you just guess at what they’d say?”

“No, I told them.” Entoan raised an eyebrow. “They were just too drunk to really understand me.”

Bob shook his head, folding his hands in his lap. “I might have to put an alcohol ban of some kind on the guards. I need them fully aware.”

“I chewed them out.” Entoan assured. “I also reminded them that if Molly dies in any way, Wade’s pretty likely to get really mad.”

“I don’t think scaring the other members of Molly’s guard is going to make them like you.” Nin pointed out.

Entoan shrugged. “I’m in charge of the group. They’ll just have to deal with it.”

Molly sighed and looked to Mandy.

“Suzerain hasn’t been very active in the water.” Mandy looked at her notes. “Our navy is doing fine. Daniel, the sailor that helped you escape the demon princes, was drafted into it and filed a complaint.”

“Is he the one that gave me bread?” Nin asked.

Mandy nodded.

Nin shrugged. “He’s already been a hero in my book. He can die now.”

“How many complaints are there about the draft?” Molly asked.

“Over five hundred in the military.” Bob replied.

“About as many in the navy.” Mandy nodded.

Molly shook her head. “I can’t risk favoritism with those kinds of numbers.”

“Alright.” Mandy nodded.

“See if you can get him trained as a medic, though. That’ll keep him out of most of the fighting, if that’s what he’s concerned about.”

Mandy made a note at the bottom of her paper.

“Protection spells are good.” Molly shoved her hair out of her face. 

“Our head cook quit today, and three others got sick.” Marie hesitated. “From the reports I got, it looked a lot like the plague again.”

Molly’s head snapped up. “What? Are we sure?”

Marie shook her head. “No, not yet, but if it is, we need to get ready for another outbreak.”

Molly cursed softly. Now she had to tell Wade. 

\-----

It was easy to tell when they’d found the first of the cities Jack had lost to the demons. Largely because there were ruins so recent dust still hung thick in the air. Houses and businesses and apartments, all built with that somewhat-mechanical flair that followed the Bossatronians everywhere -- scattered in the streets to the point where there was no such thing as a street. Rotting bodies were strewn about, filling the air with more than the smell of dust. Most of the time, it wasn’t even whole bodies that were found, just an arm or a foot or even less. Pat estimated there were probably enough partial bodies to make fifteen whole bodies if you bothered to gather them.

Wade simply burned what he could. It wasn’t as dignified as an actual burial, but it was better than being eaten by scavengers or demons.

Besides, it seemed to help relieve some of Jack’s stress when Wade told him about it.

Wade was, of course, worrying about home, about Molly and the possible reemergence of the plague; he was over a month away, though, and he simply wouldn’t be able to do anything to help if things went badly. Not that that stopped him from worrying about it.

After finding the third destroyed city, they found Jack. Well, Jack found them. Specifically, one of his lookouts found them.

As soon as Wade and Jack were alone (a relative term, since personal guards) in the main tent of the camp, which had a large map spread across a tarp on the floor, Jack threw his arms around Wade and cried.

Wade just hugged him back. Jack had gone through enough over the past few weeks to warrant several hugs. 

“I just got news.” Jack sounded downright distraught. “Malcolm was killed in the last battle he fought.”


	16. Shadows and Mist

The shadow seemed instantly drawn to JP, which worried him. Especially since this was the shadow he had seen when he'd held Tapestry.

“What do you mean, he’s going to help me?” JP edged his borrowed horse away from the shadow slightly. 

“He’s the only one that’s ever survived the touch of the Lifeless before.” Nate paused, even as the shadow seemed to look right at him. “Well, you did for a while. It’s not my fault it’s been 1000 years.”

The shadow seemed to roll its eyes, despite not having any visible ones.

“This is Snow.” Nate seemed perfectly content to just introduce them to each other. “These are JP and Brycelyn.”

“Are you dead?” JP asked.

Shadow Snow looked back at JP. ‘partially’

The word was so faint JP was surprised he even heard it, but he was more surprised Snow could talk. He didn’t seem to have a body, much less vocal cords.

‘they’re of the changing lands’ Snow looked back at Nate.

Nate nodded. “Well, it’s been called ‘The Realms’ for the past few hundred years.” 

‘do they know?’

“They know part of it.”

Snow circled JP and Brycelyn a bit, then looked back at Nate. ‘they have his sword. the boy has traces of his magic on him.’

Nate nodded.

‘he must think it’s time. he’s usually right about these things’

“He was right about the demon camp.”

‘good’ Snow turned to JP and Brycelyn. ‘then you know what will happen when you reach your birthright’

“If the prophecy is right.” Nate agreed.

‘it is. all of them are. otherwise these two would not be intended for each other’

Nate looked skeptical.

Snow walked around to JP. ‘you’ve been touched by veosur’

Nate frowned. “Don’t say the names. We don’t need the attention it brings.”

‘i say the names of all the major demons at least once a day, Sharp. it annoys them’

Nate sighed. “Isn’t annoying demons a bad thing?”

‘it’s not like they can kill me’ Snow looked at JP again. ‘i’ll do what i can to help you. it won’t be pleasant, and it won’t be permanent, but you won’t die from it’

JP frowned. “The invisible blanket of doom?”

‘veosur’s touch releases a spell that dissolves the bond between your life energy and your body, forcing your soul and your body apart. she gains control over bodies when the bodies succumb to death, but the consciousness of the person remains, forced to watch whatever atrocities she has their bodies commit. my prince saved me from that fate but instead condemned me to this one’ Snow offered a hand to JP. ‘get down. i will freeze what magic i can. your intended will need to use the sword to watch what i do so she can repeat the process later’

Brycelyn raised her eyebrows. “You said you were going to freeze the magic. I can’t do that.”

‘you can burn it away’ Snow replied simply. ‘you’ll see’

Brycelyn just looked confused. “Where are you getting all this information about us?”

‘the prophecies’ Snow gestured for JP to dismount again. ‘it will be explained when you reach armir’

Armir was the capital city of Avalier, Brycelyn knew, home to the royal family and the central point for Northern Avalier. If she remembered right, it was where Dan had grown up before coming to the Realms for the treaty.

“JP, you’ll die if you don’t let him help you.” Nate said. 

JP dismounted. “Alright.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Brycelyn putting her hand on the sword. Why was it named Tapestry? It was a weird name for a sword.

When Snow touched JP, cold flurried through him. It felt an awful lot like the ice magic the Demon Prince had used in the dungeons, which was really scary. Why would Snow know that? Or was that why he was called Snow?

...unless this was the same Snow from the story Nate had shown them?

\-----

JP woke to the soft sound of a fire crackling, and Dante in his lap and Pillow on his chest and Brycelyn’s hand on his shoulder, cool ground underneath his back. The familiar smell of pine sap filled the air, sending a pang of homesickness through him. Even if he was in the Fifth Realm and not the Seventh. Even if he was in the Realms at all and not in Suzerain.

He couldn’t feel the invisible blanket of doom anymore.

“Where did he go?” Brycelyn asked softly.

“Probably to keep an eye on the Demon Prince. He’s been doing it for centuries, and he’s not likely to stop any time soon.” Nate answered.

“What?” JP asked.

Brycelyn looked down at him. “Snow.”

She looked really pretty in the glow from the fire, JP realized. “...It’s summer.” Otherwise they wouldn’t be casually outside like this.

“The person that helped you.” Brycelyn smiled slightly. “Not the season.”

JP paused. “Right. Why is he called that?”

“It’s his name.” Nate said. “It always has been.”

“Is he the same one from the story?”

Nate nodded. 

“What happened?” Brycelyn asked, letting go of JP’s shoulder so he could sit up.

Nate looked at the stars above for a minute, then nodded. “We’re not to that point in the story, at least not quite yet, but you do need to see the next part.” Nate paused. “If you’re willing, I’m going to take the magic a step farther this time and let physical sensations into the showing -- things like smell and temperature and texture. I'll keep it short in case it's too much.”

Brycelyn nodded as JP settled comfortably next to her.

Once again, the magical music filled the air and the forest surroundings melted away. 

It smelled wet and muddy, like it did after a long storm in Primus -- the wet smell had a certain sharpness to it, too; it usually only had that sharpness during and right after a winter storm.

A fairly heavily armored guard was walking in a courtyard, pretty much ignoring the ice-covered trees. It took a moment for JP to recognize him as an older version of the not-wraith Snow that had been introduced last time, and then another moment entirely to realize Snow didn’t seem at all bothered by the cold.

Snow was wearing a new coat-of-arms now, JP realized. A stylized blue moon had taken the place of the crown from before, though the background color was still black. 

Snow came to a stop next to someone as they emerged into the courtyard -- wearing the same uniform. So this must be another of the prince’s personal guards.

“Crumpler wants to know when you’ll be taking over door duty.” The other guard leaned against the wall, scratching slightly as his armor scraped against the stone. 

“He just got on door duty.” Snow shook his head. “How was it when you were there, Piya?”

“Quiet. For a guy that just got married to a complete stranger, he’s not complaining about it.” Piya shrugged. “Isn’t it awkward for you, though? You’re the one that’s his Protector.”

Protector? Was that the same job as now or did it just share a name?

“Not really.” Snow shrugged. “We both know our responsibilities.”

“Yours is to protect him with everything you have and be with him almost all the time, and his is to marry someone he never met -- which he did do last night --  and have a kid with her. That doesn’t seem like knowing your responsibilities would make it less awkward for you.”

“I don't usually feel his emotions, if that's what you're asking.” Snow said. “Besides, we talked about it before the wedding.”

“If you insist. Hey, why don't you feel the cold?”

“Ice magic.”

“Really? That's it?” Piya sounded disappointed, and his frozen breath looked equally disappointed. 

Snow shrugged. “Where did you think I got my name?”

“You're not Protector Icicle, though.”

Snow rolled his eyes. “We've been over this already.” He turned slightly as a messenger approached them and said something that sounded like 'prize and laid quested presents,’ and was probably not that. 

“Have fun.” Piya said. “I'm sure it won't be weird.”

The smell of frosted mud hung in JP’s nose for a bit too long after the music faded before the more familiar and comforting smell of pine resumed its rightful place. 

“Get some rest.” Nate set his lute down. “We'll be moving before dawn again.”


	17. Death Comes Walking

The first coughs in the fortress that Molly noticed were quiet. She probably wouldn’t have really taken note of them if Marie hadn’t been so concerned about the plague resurfacing, honestly. Sometimes people were sick when they came into work -- it was awful, but it happened.

By the time she’d counted sixteen people with coughs and fevers, she was scared.

She could initiate communication spells by now, from speaking with Phil a couple times a week and Wade most nights, so...she could ask Wade how likely it was the plague from two whole years ago was back. It couldn’t be that likely, could it?

Molly locked herself inside her and Wade’s common area, preparing to try and reach Wade. It wasn’t like she was alone and unarmed -- she had her dagger, and Nin was with her with a dagger of her own. 

It wasn’t working, though. Every time Molly tried, Wade wasn’t responding to the spell.

“Is he asleep?” Molly asked herself, staring at the loom Nin had set up in the corner. “It’s not quite dark here so it could be dark there, right?”

“He’s usually talking to you about this time of day.” Nin pointed out, looking up from her writing practice. “He would have stayed up if he could.”

“Is he in a battle, then?” Molly frowned. Wade and his men had been in several already, she knew that much. So far, it had been mild skirmishes and nobody had died, but as soon as they caught up to the main force of demons those battles were going to get so much worse. Ever since he’d caught up with Jack the week before, they’d been trying desperately to keep more cities from falling, so it was certainly possible.

Molly put her hand on her medallion. Wade’s magic was in it, and while it sometimes just calmed her knowing that, he had put actual calming magic in it -- apparently it was close enough to healing magic it was easy for him.

“Molly?” Nin asked.

Molly looked up. “Yeah?”

“You okay? I called you three times before that.”

Molly sighed. “What if Wade doesn’t come home?”

“You’ll know fast if he dies in battle.” Nin set her practice on the table, then stood.

Molly shook her head. “What would I do, though? And what if he lives through the war but Josh doesn’t? What will I do then?”

Nin sat at the loom and started getting ready to weave. “Do you actually want me to answer that?”

“Sure.” 

“Well, there are lots of answers to that. If Wade dies, his body will be too far away for it to be buried here, unless the Bossatronians have some magic to make that possible that I don’t know about. He and Pat will be buried in Bossatron, and you’ll hold a wake or a vigil of some kind here and set up a memorial. Honestly, the entire kingdom will probably have at least some kind of mourning. He’s Heir to the throne right now, so losing him would be absolutely devastating.”

“It would be.” Molly sighed.

“You’d become Lady, since JP’s not here and might not even be alive at this point in time. You’d be assigned to marry someone at some point in time. It’ll be awful and you’ll have to get through it.” Nin started weaving. “If Josh dies and Princess McLoughlin doesn’t, Wade will become King and he’ll have to marry her. If there are enough nobles by the end of the war, you could end up still being Heiress here, while JP becomes Lord and Brycelyn Lady. You and Wade will have to be careful any time you meet so people don’t think you’re having an affair.”

Molly made a face.

Nin paused her weaving to twist and look at Molly. “Y’know, I totally assumed that if Wade dies, Pat will too. That’s almost always what happens to Protectors when their noble eventually dies, if they haven’t died first. But what happens if Pat somehow outlives Wade? What would cause that?”

Molly paused. She’d been asking Wade about that earlier. “The only time it’s ever happened is when the Protector binding was broken before the noble died -- Lady Tarnell, the first Lady of the Seventh Realm, if I’m remembering my lessons right. But I don’t know how you do that.”

“Huh. Okay.” Nin turned back to her weaving. 

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, both thinking very different things.

“Is it the plague again?” Nin finally asked.

Molly sighed, then nodded. “It looks like it, but I don’t know how it’s possible. Wasn’t it gone?”

Nin snorted. “How am I supposed to know. I’m not any kind of healer.”

Molly groaned. “I don’t know what to do about this.”

“Talk to Phil.” Nin said. “You haven’t since the first suspicions came in.”

Molly slowly sat up. “That’s a good idea.”

“Of course it is.” Nin sounded like she was smiling, but Molly couldn’t see her face to confirm it. “I have lots of good ideas.”

Molly stood. “I’m going to get some water to drink, and then I’ll contact him.”

\-----

Was Phil awake? Molly pondered that as she reached the communication spell out to him. She didn’t want to wake him if he wasn’t already.

“Hello.” Phil said calmly. “How’s it going?”

“The plague is back.” Molly blinked at her own forwardness. “What do I do?”

A moment of silence. Then: “You’re sure it’s back?”

No. “Pretty sure.”

“How bad is it?” Phil sounded like he was remembering something he’d rather have forgotten.

“I’ve gotten reports of about a hundred people sick so far, but the number was sixteen earlier this week.”

“Oh no.” Phil murmured. “You’re probably not going to like what I have to say, then.”

“Okay.”

“Has it gotten outside Septimal?”

“Not so far. As soon as someone gets confirmed that they’ve got it, they’ve been locked in their house. At least, I was trying to do that until the number exploded on me.”

“You need to quarantine the entire city.” Phil sounded sad about that. “And since you’re the only one who can do the protection spells right now, you can’t get sick or risk dying from it. You might need to leave the city.”

Molly just sat there for a minute, trying to wrap her head around the monumental task Phil had just laid out in front of her.

“I can’t just leave people to deal with this alone.” Molly said. “I don’t want to leave them.”

“If it gets bad enough, you might have to.” Phil sighed. “Otherwise you’ll leave them without protection spells. Trust me, trying to perform them while sick with the plague is going to kill you. You don’t have enough energy to go through with it without dying.”

“How do you know that?”

“...it’s how my brother died.” Phil sounded sad. 

“Oh.” Molly blinked. “...then why does everyone say he died from the plague?”

Nin glanced up from her weaving, obviously intrigued.

“Dan and I didn’t even know for almost a month, until we had to perform the protection spells, and by that point the announcement had already been made. Neither of us had the strength to perform the spells alone, and Dan had never done it before anyway, so we did it together. I don’t think the magic was expecting it, really, but it worked. And... everything had a faint residue of Martyn. It made it pretty clear what had happened.”

Molly let out a long breath. “Does anyone else know?”

Nin started weaving again, but she was clearly still listening to what Molly was saying.

“Dan, of course. Pj. Ro -- the stewardess here. The Princess Regent knew, but I don’t know if she told anyone.”

“Wade seemed to think Martyn died from the plague.”

“He was taking care of JP at the time, so it wouldn’t surprise me that he doesn’t know.” Phil sighed. “You need to act fast, Molly. The longer you wait, the farther this will spread.”

Molly groaned. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of Wade, but it’s not working.”

“Hang on.” Phil said calmly. “I’ll see if Pj can get ahold of Patrck and find out what happened.” He paused. “Yeah, he’s starting that now. I’ll keep talking with you for a few minutes to get you an answer of some kind, but I’m supposed to be speaking with Dan soon and I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

“Of course. Does that mean he’s in Avalier?” Molly ignored the tension growing between her shoulders.

“He got to shore a few days ago, but he arrived in Armir earlier today. That’s all I know, though. Haven’t really had the chance to actually talk to him much. He’s usually been trying hard to set things up to get JP and Brycelyn out of Suzerain as fast as possible.” 

“Do we know if they’re still alive?”

“Someone would have said something if they weren’t.” Phil said. “They’re political prisoners -- word gets around fast when something happens.”

“We’re a long ways away from Suzerain.” Molly pointed out. “As fast as that kind of news would travel, it would still take time.”

“They’ll be fine.” Phil assured. “Executing teenagers isn’t going to sit well with the people, and they’ll do something if worst comes to worst.”

“Are you sure?”

“People are kinder than we give them credit for.” Phil paused. “Alright, Pj got ahold of Pat. Wade’s absolutely exhausted, apparently. Pat was about to go to sleep himself. I’m sure Wade will contact you once he can actually hold a conversation.”

Molly sighed in relief. “Thank you.” 

“Not a problem.”

Molly looked at the paper with the number of reported sick people on the table. “So, how do I make a quarantine?”


	18. Old Memories

Dan could feel the songs that were always echoing through his childhood home before he even stepped onto the property or got close enough to actually hear them. Despite that, his magic wasn’t reacting like it used to. Dan’s magic had always wanted to join in the song and music and gather strength from it some way, but it felt foreign now. Not bad, just different. 

He was used to the Realms, he realized. More than that, he was literally bound to the Third Realm, and that was probably interfering with how he was sensing the magic flowing all around.

That wasn’t exactly something he had wanted to happen. It felt like he wasn’t really Avaliera anymore.

That was the point, though. They’d given him up to the Realms.

The thought slammed into Dan hard enough to make him pull his horse to a stop.

“Lord Howell?” One of his guards asked. “Is everything alright?”

Dan took a steadying breath. “It’s fine, Chris. I’m just feeling nostalgic from my childhood years.”

Chris just nodded, and Dan urged his horse moving again.

They were attracting a lot of attention on the streets. Dan was sure his parents had warned the people of Armir that Dan would be visiting, but he wasn’t entirely sure the general population would remember the entire reason why Dan was back.

“They seem interested in the sigil of the Third Realm.” Chris observed calmly.

“It’s cat whiskers.” Dan murmured, glancing around and once again being washed over by old memories. He knew this road well. He hadn’t gone out much, except when his parents made him, but this was the main road to both the palace and his parent’s significantly less-palace-y house and it was the one he’d gone on most. This was in part because he could watch people while contemplating the purpose of life and nobody would really question him.

“I think the fact that yours is different than the one I and the rest of the guards are wearing is more interesting.”

Dan glanced at his tunic, with the black background and white cat nose and whiskers. “That's because this is my sigil and yours is the sigil of the Third Realm.”

“Yes, I know.” Chris grinned. “I’ve been around since before it happened, remember.”

Dan just looked at Chris, then returned his attention to the city around him.

They were passing through the markets now. To Dan’s surprise, many of the vendors were the same as when he’d he’d lived here. It had been almost ten years, surely at least some of them would have turned the business over to children or younger siblings by now.

The road wound its way to the palace and the house of Duke Howell. Dan didn’t really know why it wound back and forth, since the entire city was more or less flat and it probably would have been much easier to just have a straight road.

Aesthetic, probably.

It probably also helped if the city got invaded, since each time the road went back on itself it went through another set of city walls.

Which was quite ingenious, honestly. Dan was rather proud of whoever had thought of that.

They were almost to the innermost city now, which had all of the things like the treasury and the palace and Dan’s childhood home. In fact, they were coming up to the innermost gate now.

The guards at the gate merely nodded at Dan’s company. Most of them didn’t even seem to realize who he was. 

Well, he’d apparently truly and entirely been forgotten by Avalier. Sure, they’d given him to the Realms, but Dan figured at least  _ someone  _ would have recognized him by now (other than the zero people so far).

“Is it too early to want to go home?” Dan murmured to Chris.

“I’m fairly sure you’ve wanted to be back in Triol ever since we left.”

Dan shrugged. “It’s home.”

And this...wasn’t. This wasn’t home anymore. How could he get upset at people for not knowing who he was when he’d given his heart to another people entirely? His people?

Phil would give him some sort of explanation and comfort if he were here. But he wasn’t. Dan hadn’t gotten to talk to Phil in over a week. It felt so very strange to not have talked to his best friend in so long, when the most they’d gone in years was a day, if that.

Dan nudged his horse off the main road and down the road that led to his parents’ home. “This way.”

“They are expecting us, right?” Chris asked.

“Well, I talked to them about it, and they suggested it.” Dan shrugged. “So I hope so.”

“How’d they take it?”

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, they haven’t seen you in years. Were they excited to see you again?”

“We do regularly talk, you know. There’s not a lot they don’t know.” Dan smiled faintly. “But, yes, they were very excited.”

Chris grinned. “What does Phil have to say about this?”

“I’m talking to him tonight, so I’ll find out then.”

The gates to the Howell estate were open -- Dan honestly wasn’t sure you could even close them anymore if you wanted to. They’d been open for so long he was sure they were rusted in that position.

“The Duke and Duchess are waiting to receive you in the main room.” A familiar voice said, and Dan turned slightly to see his childhood tutor smiling at him.

“Thanks.”

“The years have been kind to you, grace.” The tutor smiled. “It’s good to see you again.”

Dan nodded awkwardly, not trusting himself to say anything else. The last thing he needed was to accidentally start a war between the Realms and Avalier, which meant he needed to keep his mouth shut a lot so he didn’t accidentally insult someone important and cause a lot of problems and get caught in a war he could never solve and feel like he was going to completely die and make a lot of innocent people die.

“Stables are in the same place as they always have been.” The tutor added before turning around and walking off.

Dan just urged his horse moving again. The sooner he was out of needing to talk to people, the better.

The stables were quiet, fortunately, and there were a few stablehands more than willing to help. One even tried flirting with Dan.

That was sort of strange. He was sure Phil probably wouldn’t mind if he flirted back, but it really just felt strange. Nobody ever tried to flirt with him in the Third Realm, or the Realms in general, not even the people who usually got paid for flirting.

So he just awkwardly stood there for a minute until the girl froze and stared at something behind Dan.

Dan turned to see his mum.

“Duchess Howell, I wasn’t aware you were planning on visiting the stables today.” The stablehand bowed to Dan’s mother.

“I got word my son arrived and I wanted to come meet him here.” Duchess Howell’s gaze drifted around the stable, at the Third Realm guards being kind to the stablehands, before landing on Dan. Then she smiled broadly.

“Hi mum.” Dan bowed slightly, then hugged her once she got within reach.

“He’s Dukeling Howell?” the girl behind him muttered, sounding somewhat horrified. “Oh no.”

“How’s Phil?” Duchess Howell asked as the hug ended.

“Worried, but that’s to be expected with everything going on right now.”

“Of course.” Duchess Howell frowned. “You’re sunburned.”

Dan sighed. “Just a bit.”

“You’d think after over a month being outside all the time, he’d have tanned.” Chris murmured softly.

“I heard that.” Dan glanced at Chris. “That’s enough.”

“I’m telling Lord Lester you’re being mean.” Chris said.

“He can’t do anything for you, Chris.” Dan smiled faintly. “He’s over a month away.”

Chris nodded. “I know.”

Dan smiled, turning back to his mother, who didn’t really seem to know how to take Chris.

“He’s one of my personal guard.” Dan explained when he was inside, after having greeted his father. “Phil insisted.”

“Don’t they have something called Protectors for the nobility there?” Duchess Howell asked.

“They didn’t know I was coming, so they couldn’t train one for me, and I’m past the age where you get one now.”

“There’s an age limit?” Duke Howell asked.

“I think so. None of the nobles that married into the Realms have Protectors, and neither do common born nobles.” Dan paused. “Though we only have one of those, so I’m not sure if it’s an absolute case there.”

“I have no idea what you just said.” Duchess Howell said. “Common born nobles?”

“Nobility magic will sometimes randomly appear among the general population.” Dan explained, his words beginning to echo slightly as they stepped inside the spacious family room. 

He’d forgotten that was a thing that happened.

“Really? How do they find out about it?” Dan’s parents took seats, leaving Dan to glance around the room to find out if his favorite chair was still here. It rather reminded him of the couch back home, so he was hoping it still existed.

It didn't.

“There are tests for it.” Well, he would just have to take a chair, then, which is what Dan did. “Unless your parents are nobles, the tests are usually done when you’re sixteen.” And still no positive results in the Third Realm, even though he and Phil had made it mandatory for everyone when they turned fourteen.

“That’s exciting. Have you and Phil found any?” Duchess Howell asked.

Dan shook his head. “Not yet, but we’re holding out hope.”

“Surely there are other young nobles that could take over when it comes to that point.” Duke Howell said.

Dan grimaced. “Not really, no. Definitely no if I can’t find JP and Brycelyn.” Unless a miracle happened and Phil found someone while Dan was participating in the extreme sport of if-I-don’t-find-them-in-time-they’ll-die-but-I-have-no-idea-where-to-even-start-looking-besides-Suzerain-which-while-it’s-a-fairly-small-kingdom-it’s-plenty-big-to-hide-people-in.

“Ah.”

They spoke for a little longer before his parents were called away by some kind of business. Dan just took the opportunity to go to his old room, where the guards that weren’t Chris were figuring out some sort of sleeping arrangement for the three nights they were going to stay here.

The second Dan opened the door to his old room, he was hit with an overwhelming wave of memories -- spending most nights here until he was seventeen, getting told he was the one being sent away for the treaty, leaving, meeting Phil for the first time... and no wishing he would have stayed or had someone else be chosen.

A small cloth dragon laid on the pillow of his bed, a soft, faded gray in most places but still almost black in others.

“Why didn’t I take you with me, Dragon?” Dan sat on the bed and picked up the toy. “You would have loved it.”

Chris glanced up from setting up his sleeping roll next to the others, but didn’t comment as Dan ran his fingers down the small wings. 

Dan slid off his boots. “I’m going to talk to Phil.”

Chris nodded. “Give me a minute and I’ll wait outside the door.”

Dan nodded, walking over to where his bag had been put and digging through it. Based on the flirting from earlier, he needed to wear his wedding ring. 

Rings were such a pain to wear with armor. He and Phil had never needed to figure out a solution to that back home -- everyone knew they were married.

The door closed softly as Dan slid on his ring, and he looked up to see Chris was indeed gone. Fantastic. Time to reach his magic across an ocean and talk to Phil.

His first try, Phil didn’t answer. Maybe he was busy -- no, the sun was starting to set, and he was farther west here than Phil was in Triol, so Phil was definitely done with everything from the day.

He would just try again.

This time, Phil’s magic responded.

“Sorry about that.” Phil said. “Molly was in desperate need of advice.”

“No worries.” Dan flopped back on his bed and stroked Dragon again. 

“How’d it go?” 

“It’s so weird being back in Armir.” 

“How so?” 

“Well, I remember most of the streets, and most of them have the same things I remember -- markets and stores -- but some of them don’t. And enough of the stores and faces have changed that I feel... foreign.” Dan sighed, digging his toes into the monochromatic blanket. “I’m at my parents’, at least for a few nights. It’s so strange to be staying in my old room. I honestly never thought I would even see it again, much less be getting ready to sleep in it. Especially since they never really got rid of my old stuff. I’ve found one of my childhood toys, a little dragon. I thought I lost it.”

“A dragon? How’s it look?” Dan could practically hear Phil’s smile.

“I’ve been told it used to be black -- probably where my fondness for the color comes from, honestly -- but I can only remember it in varying shades of gray. It’s barely holding together now, but we had many adventures when I was small.”

“That’s amazing.” 

“My parents haven’t stopped asking me about you, by the way.” Dan said. Telling Phil that felt important, somehow.

“I thought you told them about me.” Phil laughed.

“I have, but they want to hear more.” Dan shrugged. “They really want to meet ‘their amazing son-in-law.’ They don’t even seem to mind that we don’t act married -- sleeping in different rooms and all.”

Phil sighed. “Good.”

Dan laughed briefly. “My parents didn’t recognize me themselves at first.”

“What? How?”

“Well, they couldn’t see my face as they got close to me. All they could see was my hair, and that’s not at all the same as it was when I left.” Dan cringed at the memory of his old hairstyle.

Phil was silent for a moment. “Oh dear.”

“Exactly.” Dan paused, setting Dragon down next to him. “Stay, Dragon. Don’t fall off the bed. I’m watching you.” Then he made himself more comfortable. “So how are things at home? Bossatron’s been attacked, I’ve learned that much from Josh. Jerk move on Suzerain’s part.”

“When did you talk to him?” Phil asked, the words accompanied by the soft sound of a mug being set down on a table. How did Phil do that, project the environment into these spells? Dan had never been able to manage it.

“Earlier this week. Why, have things gotten worse?” Dan frowned.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Phil sounded sad. “Molly  just issued a quarantine on Septimal.”

"A  _ quarantine? _ ” Dan swore. “What happened? Did the plague come back?”

“Yes.”

Dan swore again. 

“I’ll keep you posted on changes there.” Phil promised. Then he paused. “You sound tired from the traveling. Get some rest. We can talk later.”


	19. Masked

“Yami’s complaining about being stuck in the Second Realm for another week.” 

Cry wasn’t sure who said that. He wasn’t really paying attention to the casual conversation going around the table.

His attention was more focused on the empty spaces in the meeting room. Nobody from the Second, Third, or Seventh Realms was here. Half the kingdom. That was bad. Very bad. Sure, Yami was going to be leaving Dius for Primus soon, leaving Cheyenne in charge of everything there, but it was awfully hard to plan when missing so many people.

Technically, they couldn’t start yet anyway, since Josh hadn’t appeared and it was impolite to start planning for kingdom-wide things without the King. Minx had expressed hopes of a royal Heir in the works before walking off to do whatever she needed to do, in case something happened to Wade in Bossatron, but Cry doubted it would happen so soon. Not with the difficulty all of the nobles were having getting children in the first place. Not after it had taken Josh’s father years and years for Josh and Ashley to be born, and it had taken a second wife -- Wade’s mother -- to even get Wade and Zach. And Zach couldn’t even rule. And Cry had been old enough to remember both his sisters being born, despite his parents’ best efforts otherwise.

He didn’t know why. Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong.

Cry had gotten to Primus the night before, skirting the area where Felix had died on his way out of Quintal. He still couldn’t bear to really think about what had happened.

At least he had attended Felix’s funeral all those months ago.

Back when Brycelyn was safe.

Cry resisted the temptation to curse. Just because the others couldn’t see his face didn’t mean they wouldn’t be able to hear him. Especially the baby.

Matthias’ daughter, Luna, was currently sitting in her father’s lap, watching Cry from the seat across from him. She seemed very intent on him.

She reminded him a lot of Brycelyn as a baby. Well, both his sisters, really, but more Brycelyn. She had always been watching everything -- quietly, like Luna was doing now.

“I think she likes your mask.” Matthias looked at Luna, even as she reached for something.

“I like it too.” Cry smiled at the infant, even though she couldn’t see it. His scars felt a little strange, like they did every time he made some sort of expression or even spoke, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

Luna reached again, this time definitely trying to grab his mask.

“She can touch it if she wants.” Cry said. He wasn’t really sure why he offered -- almost nobody had ever touched it besides him before. It usually ended up with someone trying to take his mask off.

Though, if Cry was honest with himself, neither of his sisters really knew what he looked like. They’d been so young when he started wearing his mask that they didn’t really have any memories from the time. Jess had been five and Brycelyn had been four.

“Are you sure? We don’t know what kind of magic she has yet.” Matthias warned.

Cry held out his hands. “Yeah. She’s barely a year old; I doubt she’ll do anything.”

“Alright.” Matthias handed Luna to Cry.

Luna instantly reached for Cry’s mask.

He let her, even though he was aware just about everyone in the room was looking at him at the moment. He couldn’t really see their expressions, since an infant was taking up the majority of his field of vision, but everyone had gone quiet.

Luna put both her hands firmly on Cry’s mask, looking like she was concentrating very hard.

Matthias looked concerned. Cry could see that, from the one eye that hadn’t been covered by a baby hand.

“Hi.” Cry said to her.

A look of amazement spread across Luna’s face, and her hands started moving, as if searching for where Cry’s voice had come from.

“I’m Cry.” Cry said. “Well, that’s not my full name, but you don’t need to know it right now.”

Luna just stared at Cry for a minute, then resumed sliding her hands across his mask.

“Yeah, kid. It does feel nice. I want it to when I’m wearing it all the time.”

Luna’s hand reached the edge of his mask, brushing onto the skin of his jawline. Her hands were cold from touching his mask, but that was alright.

Matthias seemed to see Luna’s hand at the edge of Cry’s mask and moved to take her back.

“It’s alright.” Cry assured. “She can’t pull it off.” Nobody could besides Cry or Fe- Cry, with the magic woven into the mask. (Not that Cry only had one mask. He technically had three -- this one, which was his day-to-day one, his super fancy formal one, and the one that had been broken a few years before but would still do its job in a pinch. All of them had the no-involuntary-removal magic on them.)

Luna’s fingers slid under the edge of his mask as he spoke, near his mouth.

The infant’s expression turned to puzzlement as her gentle touch found the edge of Cry’s scars. She didn’t push hard or anything -- she couldn’t get enough of her hand under the mask to really try. It didn’t really hurt, but it certainly felt strange. Cry had been the only person to touch them in months, and this tiny girl was definitely not Felix helping to treat Cry’s face after a fight of some kind.

He missed having Felix always hanging around.

Cry simply gently reached and pulled her hand away, ignoring Matthias’ jump of alarm when he realized what was happening. “No, that’s not a good place to touch.” Cry told the infant softly.

Luna curled her fingers around Cry’s index finger and looked at it for a minute, then looked back up to his mask and reached for it with her other hand. 

“No, no more touching.” Cry pulled her other hand in his. He looked up at Matthias, who was definitely looking like he was about to take Luna away. “She’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“She didn’t hurt me at all.” As if such a small child could do a lot of damage with a physical barrier like Cry’s mask in the way. Well, the physical barrier hadn't stopped Brycelyn’s emotions from fueling the fire when she was four, but Cry’s mask was easier to escape than a ceiling. Earthquakes in general were hard to escape.

“But she reached under your mask. I’m so sorry about that.”

Cry shrugged, even as Luna lost interest in his mask and started playing with his signet ring. “She’s a baby, Matthias. It’s in her nature to be curious. She didn’t do any harm, and certainly didn’t intend any. It’s not the first time something like this has happened, either, so I was prepared for the possibility.” And he would have said that even if his scars were feeling sensitive and Luna's light touch had caused him pain.

Luna yanked at Cry’s ring, as if trying to get it off by pulling it through his bone.

Cry let her. She couldn’t do serious damage to him. Besides, he’d experienced far worse pains. Two instantly came to mind. Cry pushed them aside, instead continuing to play with Luna.

Josh walked in the room, instantly followed by Ohm. Cry had always felt a connection to the King’s Protector (which was an actual title, apparently, and meant Ohm could order all of the other Protectors around if he felt it absolutely necessary to save Josh’s life), seeing as Ohm also wore a mask. It didn’t matter that Ohm wore his mask for the sake of privacy and secrecy -- nobody besides Josh knew the man’s real name or anything about him -- a mask was a mask.

“Septimal is under quarantine.” Josh dropped into his seat, somehow not even shifting his crown in the process. Were there classes about how to do that? “The plague resurfaced there. Molly’s doing everything she can to take care of it, but we need to be prepared in case it spreads.” Josh looked at MatPat, then Cry as he spoke the last part.

“I’ll let Steph know to keep an eye out for it.” MatPat said.

Cry nodded. “I’ll tell Jess as soon as I get the opportunity.”

Josh nodded. “Other news I’ve gotten this morning -- Dan reached Armir last night.” Cry froze, completely ignoring Luna as she began working his signet ring off his finger. “He’s arranging everything needed to search for our missing nobles.” Josh looked straight at Cry, then did a double-take at Luna in Cry’s lap. “Rumors have it the guard for JP and Brycelyn helped them escape Baroness Lilith at the capital after she attempted to execute them, and the three of them are now on the run.”

Atta girl. 

“Those same rumors say Baroness Lilith has sent the Demon Prince after them.”

Things were back to really bad.

“However, reports from Bossatron are saying he's been there, if only part of the time.”

“He's the most powerful demon we know about.” MatPat pointed out. “I'm sure he can do both. But that leaves me wondering why he hasn't just caught them and returned to Bossatron.”

“Do you think he's deliberately giving them time to get away?” Matthias asked. 

“He doesn't seem that cruel. He's done awful things as a demon, but he's never been cruel about it.” Cry pointed out. 

“He's been a demon the entire time we've known him.” Matthias argued. “We don't know how much of what he's done was an act.”

Behind MatPat, Jason looked as if he wanted to say something.

“Go ahead.” Josh looked at Jason. 

“I don't think any of the things Gar did were an act. He had lots of times where he could have done demonic things and come out on top, but he never did. There were at least five or six times in the demon camp alone where he could have completely taken control of the Seventh Realm and he would have had the support of every demon there -- but he instead chose to help Lord Barnes and Heiress Molly and Heir JP. He willingly became Heiress Molly's Protector, and that couldn't have done anything but limit his powers. He’s helped kill one of the demon generals twice, when letting the Bloody run rampant would have helped him if he was trying to get power.”

“As soon as he found out the Destroyer was in Quintal, his instant reaction was to help me stop them.” Cry pointed out. “He could barely walk. He’d sincerely been trying to help. If he was giving my sister time to get to safety, I would believe it.”

“Is he even the one in control anymore, though?” Matthias asked. “He was bound to Molly before, now he's being forced to work for Suzerain.”

“I'm not sure being bound to Suzerain got rid of his Protector binding.” Ohm said. 

Everyone looked at the King's Protector. Cry had never heard him speak before. 

“It's incredibly difficult to break the bindings. It's only ever happened once, and it took incredible amounts of blood magic.” Right.  Hundreds of years ago, Lady Tarnell's Protector had broken the binding himself, with the help of an angry royal from a different kingdom, and then murdered her. 

“He's killed a lot of people since getting bound to Suzerain, but none of it looked ceremonial enough to be blood magic. He hasn't even killed as much as literally any other demon out there.”

“Can you sense his binding with Molly?” Josh asked.

“A little, yeah.” Ohm paused. “But I can still feel the residues of Felix's binding on Cry, too, so I don't know what it means.”

Cry missed the next thing Josh said as Luna began succeeding in taking off his signet ring, and he had to get it back before she did something like eat it. Besides, he didn't want to see everyone looking at him in pity. 

Matthias made a small gesture, and Luna reached for her father. Cry silently handed her back over, then shoved his ring back on while returning his attention to Josh. 

Josh was patiently looking at Matthias. 

“J-Fred is pretty on top of things right now.” Matthias said, looking at Josh while keeping Luna from grabbing at his dagger. “There are several battalions spaced across the border, at the places easiest to cross, with lookouts keeping an eye on the rest. Phil has already sent a few battalions to help fortify the border, too, but he’s making sure to keep an eye on his open border. He has more forces there than in the Fourth Realm.”

Right. Matthias had left his younger brother in charge instead of Lady Faye. She was somewhere in the palace. And okay, good, they were giving reports on the Realms instead of talking about Protector bindings.

“Alright. How are things in the Fifth Realm?” Josh and everyone looked at Cry. 

“Miserable. Nobody's happy, and a lot of people are angry at Suzerain for taking Brycelyn. When I left, there were more volunteers to fight than I would ever in good conscience take. There's 15,000 in basic training and another 1000 already good to go.” Cry paused. “The Sup Guys want to help fight.”

For a long moment, silence reigned at Cry’s words, almost like he had tried to suggest a rebellion in front of the king or something instead of reporting what news he had. Every face was shocked, except MatPat. MatPat looked interested.

“Why?” Josh finally asked, leaning his arms on the table. 

They’d been murmuring about the moons. About death. Instability. Something broken that wasn't supposed to be. Prophecies. Dying magic.

“It's their home too.” Cry pointed out. “They want to help protect it.” He took a deep breath. “They’re convinced the magic of the Realms is going to die unless we win this war.”

MatPat made a thoughtful face.

“What’s that for?” Josh asked, turning to the Lord of the Sixth Realm.

“The first time I met our friendly Lord Howell, we ended up talking about Avalier. He was still pretty unsure what he was doing here. But I was just reminded of something he said at one point.” MatPat leaned forward, hands clasped together. “We were talking about folklore, and he mentioned Avalier keeps track of a set of three children’s songs, and it’s fairly common for people to say the songs are prophecies. I specifically remember him mentioning that one of them involved the death of the Realms and that it would spread throughout the world.”

“That seems like an odd thing for him not to mention.” Matthias said.

“I wonder if Phil knows more about these songs.” Josh said. “If we’re being forced by some ancient magic to work towards an end of a prophecy of some kind, I’m betting the demons have some kind of constraints as to how that works out on their end.”

“What were the other two songs?” Cry asked.

“Dan didn’t really say, but I think the first one is about captivity and freedom from demons.” MatPat frowned. “Which now that I’m thinking about it, sounds a lot like the demon camp Wade dealt with last year.”

This wasn’t looking great. “What about the second?”

“I can’t remember. I think the song was named ‘Fire and Light,’ but I’m not sure.”

Something told Cry the second song was about Brycelyn and JP. Assuming the songs really were a prophecy of some kind, that is.


	20. Dragon Bones

The biggest problem they seemed to be having getting to Avalier was that they didn’t have a map. Maybe Nate knew where he was going and JP just didn’t know. But it didn’t seem like it, not in the slightest. They’d gone around the forest for a couple of days, being extraordinarily careful to not leave things like tracks. 

Which seemed weird. Surely the Demon Prince could track them with means that weren’t just physical tracks. He was, for instance, able to turn into a wolf and, if the demon camp was any indication, was quite fond of the form. Wolves could track smells.

All JP could smell was pine. And aspen. And maples. Aspens and maples had started showing up. It was really strange.

“Hope you like mountains.” Nate glanced over his shoulder at Brycelyn and JP. “We’re about to enter the Diathorians.”

JP nodded. Mountains were great -- they reminded him of home. “Absolutely.”

Brycleyn didn’t answer, and JP turned to look at her and frowned. 

Brycelyn was barely staying on her horse, one hand wrapped in the reins and the other resting on Tapestry at her side. Her eyes were closed, too.

“Brycelyn?”

She didn’t respond.

JP pulled his horse in front of Brycelyn’s, forcing it to stop. Then he pulled up alongside her. “Hey.” He put his hand on the one she had tangled in the reins.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at it, then at JP. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

“It’s distracting.” Brycelyn moved her hand off Tapestry. 

“The sword?” JP paused. “Wait, do you see something? Because I totally see Snow lurking in the distance whenever I hold it.”

Brycelyn nodded. “I can see the magic. And life energy. It’s a lot to take in.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Nate said, pulling his horse around to look at them.

“Did you know we would see things?” JP asked.

Nate shrugged. “I knew it was possible. I strongly suspect it’s where your sometimes benevolent demon friend learned how to see magic with such reliability. Most can only see large changes in magic and life energy -- even the powerful ones like the generals and princes. Well, the other prince.”

“I don’t see magic, though.” JP pointed out, even as Nate urged them moving again. “I see Snow.”

“I’m fairly sure you two have very different roles you need to play in the upcoming years.” 

“Roles?” Brycelyn asked, while JP said “Years?”

“It’s a war.” Nate shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not even going to be fully in swing for another few months, and then it’s going to last for a while.” 

“What do mean by roles?” Brycelyn asked. “I get the feeling you’re not talking about typical nobility duties during wartime.”

Nate shook his head. “You’re right.” He sighed. “There are prophecies about this. They’ve been around ever since the Demon Prince became known as such. The first one is already fulfilled, and in the more positive of the two options -- demons would find their way into the northernmost of the Realms and cause chaos there. They were driven out.”

“The demon camp was a prophecy?” JP blinked. 

Nate nodded.

“What would the other two be?” Brycelyn asked.

“The second one is named ‘The Song of Fire and Light,’ and it says two young nobles of the Changing Lands with magic of fire and light, intended for each other, will befriend the guardians of the north.”

JP and Brycelyn just looked at each other for a long moment.

“This sounds fake.” JP said. 

“You’re not required to believe me.” Nate said. “That particular one also says you’ll survive a fight with the Demon Prince, so I guess that’s the real test here.”

JP paled. “What?”

“What does the third one say?” Brycelyn asked, petting Pillow’s curl. Pillow squeaked softly and grinned.

“Well, long story short, either the Realms will be healed or they’ll be permanently destroyed and magic will slowly drain away from the world and everything will die.”

“How would the Realms affect the world like that?” JP blinked.

“Magic flows between everything. If a hole appears, it’ll try to fill it. And it will fail.” Nate sighed. 

“What do you mean ‘healed’?” Brycelyn asked. “They’re not hurt.”

“Oh, they are. They’ve been hurt from the day the Empire conquered them so long ago.” Nate nodded at Tapestry. “It was the last time that sword ever let your demon friend hold it.”

Brycelyn frowned, brushing her fingers over the sword hilt. “Why does it let us hold it?”

“I’m not going to try and give logic to a sword.” Nate said. “But I imagine it likes you because it knows you two are in the prophecies.” He looked forward. “Come on, we have a ways to go yet.”

“Can we hear more of the story?” JP asked.

Nate paused, then nodded. “For now.”

Brycelyn looked amused, but JP just grinned at her. Stories were fun.

The music started, and the world melted to reveal the throne room once again, this time with the Queen all alone, slumped in her throne.

“Your majesty?” Snow edged into the room before walking up to the Queen. “You called?”

“The King has fallen at the southern border.” The Queen didn’t look up. “We’ve lost everything south of Harkness Bay. Find me my children. They need to take care of the army. My daughter-in-law will stay here with me.”

Snow bowed, looking incredibly sad at the news, and walked off.

The Queen began to cry.

The world melted again, showing four figures on horses. All four were wearing the sigil of the prince, but it was pretty easy to tell which one was the prince despite them all being in full armor, complete with helmets. Only one of them had a crown built into the helmet -- and something about his sword felt familiar.

The first battle they fought with the demons, Piya fell. His body was burned with the rest of the losses.

Years must have passed that Nate wasn’t showing them, JP realized as the armor became more and more banged up and the army smaller and smaller. 

Right now, they were watching the aftermath of a battle. Bodies were being burned, regardless of if they were Empire forces or of the Changing Lands. 

The prince was kneeling in the blood and mud next to one of the two remaining members of his guard, the other one on the other side of the dying man.

“I won’t let you heal me.” the dying guard protested as the prince began pulling his gauntlets off, voice unsteady. “You’ve already spent so much magic to win this battle.”

The prince didn’t bother saying anything, merely began removing his other gauntlet. 

“Snow, please. Stop him.” the dying guard looked at the still-living one, eyes clearly beginning to unfocus.

“It’s alright, Crumpler.” Snow said softly, taking Crumpler’s hand and resting it on Crumpler’s chest, to the gash running across his armor. “You did your job. He’s safe. I’ll see him safe through the end of this.”

Crumpler nodded slightly, even as Snow put his free hand on the prince’s now ungauntleted hands. “You need to rest. We need you for the next fight.”

The prince sighed, then put his hand on Crumpler’s sword, then wrapped Crumpler’s hand around it. 

“Thank you.” Crumpler murmured, eyes drifting closed. This time, when he exhaled, he didn’t inhale again.

Snow and the prince sat there for a minute, completely silent. 

“Come on.” Snow urged, standing and leaving Crumpler’s body. “Let’s tend to your injuries, and then you need to sleep.”

The prince kept his head bowed for a minute before sighing. “First Piya, now Crumpler. How many good men will this bloodbath take? I can’t remember a time when we haven’t had war, it’s been going so long.”

That was Gar’s voice. Why did the prince have Gar’s voice?

“Twenty years next month.” Snow nodded. “Come on. I’m sure the demons will want to fight during the moon event.”

The prince stood and stepped around Crumpler’s body, swaying unsteadily. Snow’s eyes widened, and he took a step forward. The prince crumpled, and Snow caught him before kneeling with him and keeping him from faceplanting into the mud and blood. “How badly injured are you?!”

The prince didn’t respond, but Snow pulled off the prince’s helmet to reveal a familiar, if blood-coated, face, even as the music began to fade on a particularly depressing note.

Gar’s face was the prince’s face. The prince sounded like Gar because he was Gar.

JP, eyes wide, looked up to stare at Nate. He didn’t know what to do with this information.

And this is when he saw shadow Snow at the edge of his vision. “Nate.”

Nate turned to look where JP was, then nodded. “Alright. Follow him, both of you. JP, take the sword. I’m going to go hunting.”

JP nodded uncertainly, taking Tapestry from Brycelyn as they followed the shade through the forest.

They came out in a clearing, where JP pulled his horse to a complete stop. “Woah.”

Bones. Giant bones. A giant skull and so many neck bones and a forearm and a giant claw and a wing... dragon bones. The ribcage had been broken, it looked like, unless dragons had a rather inconvenient gap in their ribcage.

‘they stop being impressive after you see them a few hundred times’ Snow murmured. ‘leave your horses here. they’ll spook if you take them closer’

JP and Brycelyn dismounted, then followed Snow on foot over the rocky ground. The moons were coming up, JP noticed. It was night, but it wasn’t dark. You could see just fine.

‘hello, highness’ Snow said, facing to JP’s left.

JP turned to see a familiar giant wolf just sitting there, scars running down his front shoulder and arm.

Oh no. Gar was here.

The wolf shimmered into Gar’s human form -- fully human, like JP was used to seeing him as. “Well, I’ve caught up to you two.” Gar sighed, then looked up at JP. “I can’t just let you go, I’m afraid. I’m under orders to fight you if needed to bring you back to the Baroness. She doesn’t particularly care if you’re in one piece or not.”

And then his sword, black blade glowing blue just a bit -- JP realized with a sense of dread that the blue moon was almost full -- was drawn, and then Gar lunged at JP.

That was when JP noticed Gar’s eyes were glowing. JP wouldn’t be able to take any shortcuts with this one.

JP didn’t know how he managed to dodge the first three of Gar’s -- no this was the Demon Prince, definitely -- swings, but he did.

‘he doesn’t want to do this’ Snow said matter-of-factly. ‘he’d rather let you go, but he can’t. you have to hurt him so the demon magic believes he really did try to capture you’

“Shut up, Snow.” The Demon Prince growled, lunging at JP again.

This time, JP blocked it, barely, and the force of it knocked him onto his back. He rolled almost instantly, but still got sliced next to his left elbow. 

Ow.

Each movement the Demon Prince made was incredibly deliberate, and JP had an overwhelming knowledge that this was 1000 years of experience fighting 2 years of experience. He was probably going to die here, at the hands of someone he once called a friend.

But no. Somehow he was holding his own. Well, sort of. The Demon Prince was definitely hurting him. Almost exclusively on his left side, oddly. 

Then the Demon Prince lunged, and JP barely managed to deflect the swing, only to realize he’d simply redirected it when the Demon Prince’s sword slammed into his right thigh.

He screamed. 

Instantly, everything went blurry, and JP crumpled. 

Tapestry was burning in his hand, then the sword seemed to begin moving under its own power.

JP could have sworn he saw the Demon Prince smile. 

Tapestry yanked JP to his feet -- which seemed like an incredibly bad idea, since JP was bleeding so so very much now -- and the sword slid across the Demon Prince’s side.

Had...how?

The last thing JP saw was the Demon Prince seeming to vanish, and Brycelyn running into his field of vision. Then everything faded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are the flashback things clear? Like, can you guys tell that's what happening, and when? I want to make sure.


	21. King McLoughlin

Three months. Wade had been fighting in Bossatron for three months. He’d been fighting alongside Jack for a month and a half.

He was so tired of fighting. He was so tired of healing people. He was so tired of having to clean up after each battle.

He was tired of this war.

He was still healing from the last battle, a week earlier. He could walk, fortunately, but he wasn’t sure he could fight. At least, not well enough to defend anyone else. He could probably hold his own.

He was hoping he wasn’t going to need to for a little while longer.

They were just outside Bossatronia at the moment, and Wade had been woken by Jack speaking softly.

It was still night. Who was Jack talking to?

Wade sat up slowly, trying to avoid waking Pat sleeping next to him.

Wade looked over at Jack’s half of the tent, then smiled. One of the ladies of the court was sitting on the foot of his sleeping roll, while Jack sat cross-legged on the head of it.

“I’m sorry I missed our wedding.” Jack apologized.

“This war isn’t your fault.” Wiishu answered. “We can get married when it’s done.”

Jack sighed, then glanced across the tent to Wade, who was now wishing he had a drawing of Molly with him. Especially with the plague going on in Septimal. At least she hadn’t gotten sick.

Wiishu followed Jack’s gaze.

Wade waved awkwardly. “I’m going back to sleep. I just wanted to see what was happening.”

Jack and Wiishu looked at each other for a minute, then back at Wade.

“Can you marry us?” Jack asked. Wiishu nodded.

Wade blinked, even as Pat began to stir next to him. “What? Are you sure?”

“Well, you rank high enough.” Jack said. “Means you don’t have to be clergy.”

“I don’t know how it works here.” Wade admitted.

Pat sighed and opened his eyes, even though his beanie had slid down over his eyes. “Why is everyone talking in the middle of the night?”

“Please, Lord Barnes.” Wiishu said.

Wade looked at them, then sighed. “What do I need to do?”

“That’s not helpful.” Pat muttered, sitting up and fixing his beanie.

“Thanks.” Jack said, grabbing Wiishu’s hand.

Wade nodded. “Just tell me what I do, okay?”

“Are you marrying them?” Pat asked. “You’ve never officiated before.”

Wade nodded. He was aware of that, Pat, thank you very much.

As it turned out, the ceremony was incredibly easy and incredibly fast. With Pat and Wiishu’s guard, someone Jack called Robin, serving as witnesses, there weren’t any problems at all. Sure, none of Jack’s siblings or parents were there, but... that would have been hard. Two more of Jack’s older siblings had been killed in the fighting so far.

Which kind of made it understandable why Jack and Wiishu wanted to get married then -- they didn’t know how much time they had left together.

After the brief ceremony, Robin escorted Wiishu back into the walls of Bossatronia, and Wade went back to sleep -- only to get woken by the sounds of fighting.

Another day of fighting demons. Such fun.

Except, today, the demons broke through the walls surrounding Bossatronia and flooded into the streets of the capital city -- absolutely slaughtering Jack’s soldiers in the process.

Wade and Pat stuck close to Jack and what was left of his guard, fighting their way to the palace. Wade didn’t want to look at the streets around him. He didn’t want to take deep breaths, because then he would smell nothing but sweat and metal and blood and death.

"Y’know,” Pat observed as what was left of the army retook another section of Bossatronia, “we’re getting really good at killing demons.”

Wade pulled his sword out of another mildly powered demon. “Wish I was getting better at other things.”

“Wade!” Jack bellowed over the battle, probably a good thirty feet away. “The palace!”

Wade turned to see the demons attempting to break into the palace, even as defenders there poured things over the battlements. As it turned out, even demons didn’t do well if they were on fire.

\-----

It took two days of fighting for the last of the demons to be cleared out of Bossatronia, during which Wade had managed to get a total of two hours of sleep during a lull in the fighting. It would have been more, but he and Pat had had to take a few hours to do their best to treat their wounds without supplies. The results were decent enough, though Pat kept complaining that Wade needed to do a better job and not keep stopping halfway through to wrap someone else’s injuries. (Pat, it should be noted, was frequently helping someone whenever Wade had looked over to give a response.)

Jack was the one to open the palace, looking just as tired as Wade felt, and his men checked for any remaining demons, but only found demon remains.

“Your majesty.” Someone spoke as Jack walked into the hall leading to the waiting room to the throne room. Jack glanced at Robin, who was unconscious and being treated by someone.

Wade remembered the waiting room from his time in the city as a teenager, but it had been in better condition then. Not so destroyed. And the doors hadn’t had rubble dumped in front of them.

Jack frowned. “Majesty?”

The person nodded mutely.

Jack twirled and glared at the giant doors to the throne room, and the offending rubble in front of them. “Hey! Open up!”

The doors more or less shattered at the force of his shout, and the large chunks of rubble turned into small pieces of rubble. How Jack had had energy left to give a magical shout strong enough to shatter heavy oak doors and stone, Wade didn’t know.

A strangled sob tore out of Jack, and after another moment of dust dying down, Wade got to see why.

Jack’s parents, and the remaining of Jack’s older siblings and nieces and nephews, were lying in pieces on the floor. And leaning heavily on the King's throne was the Demon Prince, with Wiishu tied up in the Queen's throne.

“No need to shout, your highness.” The Demon Prince said. “I’d have opened the doors if you’d simply asked.” He was sporting a number of nicks and shallow cuts, matting his fur. Apparently even such a skilled fighter like him got hurt during two-day battles.

“I’m asking nothing from you. Get off that throne and out of my kingdom.” Jack snapped, taking a few steps towards the Demon Prince, seeming to ignore his own injuries -- which, admittedly, were shallower and fewer than Wade’s.

“I can’t do that. I’m not allowed to leave until all my orders are fulfilled.” The Demon Prince gestured to the Queen’s throne. “They’re not, yet.”

Wiishu was still there, tied to the throne, gagged and somewhat beaten. Lines of dried tears streaked down her face. She must have been crying at some point -- probably exactly what Wade would be doing if he were in her situation. Pretty much exactly what he wanted to do now, actually.

“Leave Suzerain.” Jack strode towards the Demon Prince. “And leave here.”

“You know what, I would love to. I genuinely would. Attacking you hasn’t been my idea of a fun way to spend half a year.” The Demon Prince stood, and Wade couldn't help but notice how heavily the demon was breathing after that long speaking. “But I wasn’t just ordered to bring Bossatron to its knees, or I would have forced everyone out the second I killed your parents and sister -- in front of your bride, no less.” The Demon Prince made a disgusted face. “I really wish I didn’t have to do this.”

From the sounds of it, the Demon Prince hadn’t been the one to kill the children. He’d never killed children before, though, so that wasn’t surprising.

But then who had killed Jack’s nieces and nephews?

“Fight the binding. You did it before.” Jack argued.

“The only reason I was able to do that was because my binding no longer applied.” The Demon Prince sighed. “Do you think I would have done all this if I had a choice?” He stepped down from the throne -- Jack’s throne now -- holding his side. Was he injured there? Yes, yes, he was definitely bleeding from under his paw. Hand. Whatever it was called. And he was bleeding fairly heavily, too.

“Who hurt you?” Jack asked, a bit of confusion creeping into his voice.

“Who was skilled enough to injure me, you mean? None of your men.” The Demon Prince laughed. “It was luck, and a magical sword, but a young noble from the Seventh Realm. I don't know if he’ll survive the night.” He sounded sad about that.

“JP’ll make it.” Pat said. “He’s tough.”

“I don’t know how much ‘tough’ does for you when you get slammed in the thigh with a sword.” The Demon Prince shrugged. “You want your throne, Jack? Take it.” He stepped aside.

From behind the throne stepped an exact lookalike of Jack. Well, except for one teensy little detail -- completely black eyes with bright green irises. And, you know, no bandages patched on.

“I’m sorry, Lord Barnes.” The Demon Prince turned away from Jack, who was staring in confusion at the doppelganger.

“Sean William McLoughlin.” The doppelganger, who had to be a demon, stepped forward more with each word until it was face-to-face with Jack. “How do you feel about a bit of ... possession?”

The doppelganger stepped inside Jack, who instantly started screaming and struggling against something Wade couldn't see.

Wiishu screamed through her gag. Wade screamed a little bit. Pat yelped a little.

The Demon Prince turned to Wade, drawing the sword Molly had made for Gar so long ago. “Can’t have you stopping the process, now can I? Not like you could, anyway.” The Demon Prince’s gaze slid to Pat, who had definitely drawn his sword by now. “She’s the only one who has a hope of helping him even survive it.”

This was going to be hard, seeing as Wade barely had the energy to stand, much less hold his sword. Wade glanced at Pat, then drew his sword. As if waiting for that, energy flowed into him.

Molly's enchantments were helping. Good.

Pat darted around to free Wiishu, and Wade blocked the Demon Prince’s attack.

Some part of him felt like laughing. Here he was, fighting a demon he probably should have killed almost two years ago. Instead, he’d made a demon -- a demon -- Molly’s Protector. Why had that seemed like a good idea? Right, it had kept her alive.

Well, that part was still true.

The Demon Prince’s next blow drove Wade to his knees. A fight like this wasn’t going to end well, Wade knew. He was so tired and so weak from all the fighting, even with the sword helping. He was hoping Gar could find a loophole in the demon binding and not kill him. Of course, he’d been hoping the gash in the Demon Prince’s side would keep him from attacking, too, and that clearly hadn’t worked out.

“They’re still alive.” The Demon Prince murmured, even as Wiishu darted to Jack’s side. “Lord Howell will find them.”

“Why tell me?” Wade shoved the Demon Prince off him, feeling his entire body groan from the effort. The sword was giving him energy, but it wasn’t healing him.

“Because I’m sure you’ll be alive by the time they return to the Realms.” The Demon Prince slammed his hilt into Wade’s side with enough force to send him sprawling -- and even though there was armor there, Wade felt bones break.

The next stroke should have killed him, but Pat’s sword intercepted it.

“How does Jack survive this?” Pat demanded, kicking the Demon Prince back. “Come on, Gar, figure out a way to help us. I know you want to.”

“He’s not been coronated.” The Demon Prince swung directly at Pat this time, who barely managed to block it. “Or the magic would be helping him.”

You couldn’t coronate someone that fast. Could you?

“He’ll have to beat the Entertainer into submission himself. Nothing can get him out now, not besides death.”

Jack’s fingers dug into the grout holding the stone tiles together. “I’m not giving into you, not a chance.” Then he started swearing.

Entertainer. Phil had once told Wade the worst thing you could do to any kind of entertainer was to ignore them -- it made them feel useless. And Phil would probably know, considering entertainment was the major export of the Third Realm.

“Focus on something else, Jack!” Wade shouted as he scrambled to his feet, even as pain blossomed cheerfully along his side. “He can’t get power over you if you ignore him!”

The Demon Prince grinned, confirming Wade’s suspicions.

Wiishu grabbed Jack, holding him tightly in her arms. She began murmuring something to him, but Wade couldn’t hear what it was. Plus, he was a bit busy fending off the Demon Prince.

Then the Demon Prince slammed his sword into Pat’s side, crunching through the armor, and yanked it out. Pat crumpled, blood pooling around him, and Wade felt an ache that could only be described as deadly.

It was a fatal wound, and if Wade didn’t do something, Pat would die in about a minute.

Wade didn’t have a lot of energy to spare for healing at the moment, but he didn’t have a lot of options for keeping Pat alive.

So he dropped next to Pat, ignoring that he had probably just managed to break both his knees, and slammed as much healing into him as he possibly could. Some part of him was waiting for a killing blow, but it never came.

Wade glanced up. The Demon Prince was doubled over, touching the gash in his side again.

Wade kept healing Pat, even when he felt completely and utterly exhausted. Pat wasn’t healed enough to survive until healers came yet.

The very last thing he saw before running his magic dry was a very bright, very green light explode through the room.


	22. Lonely

Molly had tried so hard to keep the plague from coming inside the fortress, but it didn’t work. She couldn’t leave now, not without exposing the rest of the Seventh Realm to the plague.

And it definitely was the plague. Or, at least, something so similar Molly couldn’t tell the difference. Wade probably could have, if he was here and not fighting in Bossatron. Molly hadn’t even been able to get ahold of him for the past three days.

Entoan and Nin were following Molly everywhere these days. They had to -- every member of Molly’s guard had gotten sick. Bob and Mandy and Marie were all sick too, and Molly had a sinking suspicion she was going to join them soon enough.

As Molly walked through the Great Hall, which had almost been turned into a massive hospital until Molly had realized she had the power to order  _ no hospitals, that only made it worse _ , her hand was wrapped tightly around the pendant Wade had given her. Even with all this sickness and death, it was radiating peace and healing.

An unfamiliar magic brushed Molly’s mind -- a communication spell.

Molly hesitated, then accepted it.

“Hello.” It was a feminine voice, with a soft Bossatronian accent. “I’m Wiishu. I apologize for not giving you warning about trying to contact you.”

“Hi.”

“You are Lord Barnes’ betrothed, right?”

Molly nodded, forgetting for a moment that Wiishu couldn’t see what she did. “Yes. Has something happened?” He’d told her he was injured the last time they’d talked, but he had sounded fine.

“He’s close to death.” Wiishu said slowly. “As is Protector Static.”

Molly leaned against the wall, ignoring Entoan’s exclaim of alarm and Nin’s concerned grabbing of Molly’s arm. “How?”

“They fought the Demon Prince. I’m not clear on the details -- I was busy helping Jack. He would have contacted you to break the news, but he’s recovering from his own injuries at the moment.”

“When was this?”

“Late last night.” Wiishu replied. “It’s been difficult getting everything together.”

“I’m sure. How did you get chosen to tell me all this?”

Wiishu laughed nervously. “I’m Jack’s wife.”

“I...didn’t know he was married.”

“It’s been a thing for less than a week.” Wiishu admitted. “Lord Barnes married us just before the battle for Bossatronia began.”

“Congratulations.” It felt like such a strange thing to say, given the news Wiishu was delivering.

“Thank you. We have healers attending to Lord Barnes and Protector Static when they’re not needed for healing someone else. I don’t know how long it will be before either of them wakes up, but the healers are expecting them to. Lord Barnes is completely drained of magic, so he might take longer.”

If Pat had gotten badly injured, Wade definitely would have shoved as much magic as possible into him to try to heal him. “How long until they’re better?”

Wiishu sighed. “The healers estimated a year or more before they can travel, and at least a year beyond that for them to be able to fight. The healers also warned they might never fully recover.”

Molly let out a long breath. “Do you think the war will still be going then?”

“I suspect it’s going to go for a while yet.” Wiishu said. “Fortunately, the demons have left Bossatron. We’ll send aid as soon as we can, but it may be quite some time before we can provide much help.” Wiishu sighed. “I have to go now. They’re crowning Jack and I. Hopefully it will help him keep Anti contained.”

“Anti?”

“Jack’s been possessed by a demon. He’s still in control, which is good, but he has to be crowned anyway. He’s the only option left.”

And with that, Wiishu was gone.

After a moment of silence, Entoan and Nin exchanged a look and Entoan looked back at Molly. “Bad news?”

Molly nodded, telling them what Wiishu had just told her.

“That’s rough.” Nin said. “Guessing you’ve got to tell everyone else.”

Molly nodded. “I’ll tell ... whoever I can get ahold of this late. In the morning, I’ll send out a proclamation for the people. It’ll be hard to get it outside of Septimal with the quarantine, though.”

“Make sure to have Dlive find out.” Entoan said. “I get the feeling he doesn’t get told much.”

“What’s he doing now?” Nin asked.

“He’s one of Cry’s guards.”

“I’ll try to contact Cry, then.” Molly said. The Lord of the Fifth Realm was probably still awake. It wasn’t too late yet.

\-----

“That’s awful to hear.” Cry said. “He’ll pull through. They both will. By the way, Dan left Armir. Someone named Louise is going to be helping him look for Brycelyn and JP. They haven’t gotten very far yet, but they’re looking.”

“Oh, good.” Molly dropped into a chair.

“How are you holding up?”

“It’s rough.” Molly sighed. “The quarantine worked, though. The plague is stuck in Septimal.”

“That’s good.” Cry sighed. “I’ll pass all this on to Josh. And apparently Ohm has the ability to sort of sense the other Protectors now that he’s the King’s Protector. We’ll see if he can sense anything from Pat.”

Molly nodded. “Thank you.”

\-----

Molly had a hard time falling asleep that night. It felt like Gar was lurking at the edge of her room, waiting to get the chance to talk to her. Sure, she’d gotten the feeling before of Gar observing her from far away, but she’d never felt like he wanted to speak with her. Not like this.

Finally, though, she fell asleep.

Her dreams were restless for quite some time before settling into a very peaceful scene. A beach of some kind, soundless and scentless. Not a beach Molly had seen before, though.

“You know, I wasn’t sure this would work.” Gar’s voice said softly from behind her.

Molly whirled, taking a step away from him. He looked like himself, but he was wearing an unfamiliar sigil instead of hers. It didn’t belong to anyone currently alive, not that she knew of -- a full blue moon on a black background.

“What do you want?” Molly fought to keep her voice steady.

“There’s a blood blue moon early next year.” Gar said, dipping his head. “I was ordered to destroy Septimal then.” His voice caught. “And to kill you.”

“Don’t the Protector bindings keep you from doing that?”

Gar spread his hands helplessly. “I don’t know. The last time I lived through one of these, I became a demon. It’s already going to be boosting the magic of every demon due to the blood moon. I might not have any control over what I do at all. I definitely won’t be able to fight my demon binding to the Baroness.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Molly asked.

“I wasn’t ordered to not say anything. When it comes time, you’ll need to evacuate the entire city.” Gar’s shoulders slumped. “The fewer people there, the lower the death toll will be.”

Molly nodded. “Makes sense.” She paused. “Is there any way to get rid of the demon magic?”

Gar paused, then slowly nodded. “It’s not easy. And I don’t know what else would happen from it -- it would probably completely destroy all the bindings on me, and breaking the Protector binding between us would hurt you. A lot. It might have my age catch up to me, too, and that would kill me for sure.”

“What would you need, if you wanted to go ahead with it?”

Gar gave Molly a long, serious look. “Blood magic and a convergence.”

A convergence. Molly had heard of them, when all three moons lined up, but she’d never met someone who had seen one -- it happened every couple hundred years. Well, Gar had probably seen a couple, but he’d never mentioned it.

“Isn’t one of those coming up?”

Gar nodded. “Three and a half years from now.” He sighed. “Molly, it’s very complicated. Even if everything up to there went right, it takes a lot of blood magic. Someone would have to die for it. It’s not worth it.”

“We’ll figure out a way.” Molly said.

Gar sighed. “It’s going to be a lot easier and safer to just....imprison me somewhere I can’t get out.”

Molly blinked. “How would that happen?”

“I don’t know.”

Molly gave Gar a long look. “You’re not telling me everything, are you.”

“No. I’m not. I can’t explain it all right now. I’ve been working to fix this for almost a millennia, though. It’ll be alright in the end.” Gar sighed. “I hope.”

1000 years. What had Gar been doing? “And what if the war goes badly?”

“Then the world will end centuries after the magic here dies.” Gar sighed. “JP and Brycelyn are fine. JP is injured, but he’ll lived. I checked in on him -- they didn’t see me, though. Dan will find them sometime within a month, if he hasn’t already.”

“Why did you fight Pat and Wade?”

Gar looked pained. “I wasn’t given a choice.”

Being a demon sounded complicated.

“Oh, by the way, don’t get mad at Dan for the decisions he’s going to make.” Gar added. “His hand is going to be forced a lot.” Gar looked out over the ocean. “I’m out of time. I don’t think I can contact you like this again. Be safe. Remember to evacuate the city when it comes time.”

Molly jerked awake, with only Keeters curled up against her for company.

It was lonely.


	23. Duchess Louise Pentland of Eastern Avalier

It took Dan a while to make his way from Armir to Aevor, the capital of Eastern Avalier. The entire time, he was painfully aware that people were dying back home, dying to Suzerain’s army. Phil was keeping him updated, of course, but learning about something secondhand wasn’t nearly the same as being there and helping.

Finding the kidnapped nobles was helping. Logically, he knew that. It didn’t feel right, though. Especially not once he got news that Suzerain had started attacking the coastal cities in the Fourth Realm and were working their way north along the coast.

Apparently they hadn’t even scoped out Septimal to attack it yet, but that was probably because Molly’s way of defending the city would be to just ... infect all of the attackers with the plague. He didn’t know how she would do that, but it seemed like a solid plan.

A fortnight before, Phil had been going on and on about how he’d gotten the information he needed from MatPat to chose what plants would weaken demons the most, and how the rosebushes were almost entirely planted and were sleeping peacefully, and how he was starting to cultivate the most poisonous plants in a greenhouse where only he could get in -- he wasn’t even letting Pj in, since Pj could accidentally breathe in pollen and die from it and Phil couldn’t. Pj apparently wasn’t very happy about that. 

Dan should probably spend more time in communication spells with Pj over the time he was in Avalier. There were some things Phil just wasn’t going to tell him -- not out of any malicious intent or trying to hide something, but out of forgetfulness. Pj noticed those things, but couldn’t tell Dan about them if Dan didn’t talk to him.

Dan should talk to Ro, too. She would be noticing things neither Phil nor Pj would. She paid a lot better attention to the small details than Phil did, for sure. (Again, not because Phil wasn’t trying, but because he and Dan operated on a significantly different scale than Ro did, and Pj on a different scale from that.)

It was still strange how Dan’s childhood country of Avalier didn’t feel like home anymore. Still definitely familiar, which was a relief.

But not home.

The second he set foot on the Pentland estate, though, something felt different around him. It almost felt like home ... it couldn’t be.

“Dan!” The cheerful greeting was the only warning Dan had before his childhood friend Louise Pentland was hugging him. He’d barely had the opportunity to even dismount from his horse.

“Oh, hey.” Dan hugged her back.

His borrowed horse snorted at him and flicked its tail at him.

Less awkward than normal for interacting with Louise, actually.

“I’ve got people ready to help search, but they haven’t gone out yet. I couldn’t tell them what the Heirs looked like.”

“I have portraits of what they looked like the night they were taken.” Dan said. “No idea if they’re still wearing the same clothes at this point, though.”

“Oh, I hope not. Not after nine months.”

Had it really been that long since Suzerain had declared war? Dan quietly calculated the time. Yeah, yeah it had been. It was almost winter now. “Yeah, I’m not sure they have the best hosts.” He had gotten the news that the two young nobles had escaped, but he didn’t know what that meant for him besides that it was going to be that much more difficult to find them.

And that it was very possible they were dead.

No, Molly and Cry would have known if the two kids had died. JP and Brycelyn were only bound with Heir bindings, but the magic of the respective Realms would still give some sort of reaction if they died. The Third Realm had reacted when Martyn had died, and he had still only had an Heir binding on him. It had reacted even more strongly when Phil’s parents had died.

If Dan hadn’t been completely exhausted from trying to heal Phil with his magic, he definitely would have woken up from the reactions.

As it was, he and Phil had woken on the couch in a jungle of plants, very weak and disoriented (but apparently both healed -- somehow they’d managed to magically heal each other), being told they were now in charge of an entire Realm. 

And Dan had thought it was strange having an Heir binding put on him. It had been much stranger to actually become Lord.

“Dan? Where are you?” Louise asked.

Dan gave a half-smile in her general direction. “Thinking about home.”

“It must be rough being gone so long.” Louise acknowledged. “Oh, you haven’t told me about who you were married to! What’s she like?”

Dan bit back a laugh. “Well, firstly, she is a he. Phil. I don’t know how nobody ever told you that.”

Louise gave an awkward laugh. “Neither do I.”

Dan and Louise just looked at each other for a long, long moment before both of them just burst into laughter. 

“What?” Chris gave a confused look to one of the other guards, and got a shrug in return.

“Oh, I’ve missed you, Dan.” Louise managed after a few minutes. “Just think -- if you hadn’t gone and gotten married to Phil, this would have been every day for the past six years.”

“What? Right, yeah, I don’t know how well that would have worked out.” Dan crossed his arms and promptly uncrossed them. “With our luck, we probably would have caught the entire continent on fire.”

“Oh, that would be bad. True, though.”

“Yes, let’s please make sure Dan is not on fire.” Dan sighed.

“So, really, how was being married off for a treaty? I’ve never heard anything about your husband.” Louise began walking inside, and Dan walked alongside her, leaving Chris to trail behind confusedly.

“I’m fairly sure he was born from a literal beam of sunshine.” Dan grinned. “He’s definitely my best friend.”

“He already sounds amazing, this Phil.” Louise smiled. “But how do you two get along, you sound so different from each other. You know, since you said he was sunshine and you’re rather much more like death and the worst case scenario.”

“The worst --” Dan gave Louise an incredulous look. “The worst case scenario. Are you serious.”

Louise laughed.

Dan shook his head. “We balance each other rather well. He’s not super intrusive, but he knows when to come into my room to help me with existential crises. That’s probably because he insisted on binding a plant to my life force within ten minutes of being introduced.” It had actually been after the wedding and Dan being introduced to court, but too late to correct himself now.

“You sleep in different rooms? How did he bind a plant to you?”

“He’s got plant magic. And, yeah,” Dan nodded, “we sleep in different rooms. At least at home, we tend to share a tent when we travel. It works out really well.”

“Plant magic? Is that typical over there?”

“Phil’s literally the only person I’ve ever met who has it. He sprouts plants wherever he goes -- on days when he’s super stressed or sad or happy or something, our apartment turns into an absolute jungle. We’ve had to build three greenhouses in the past two years just to be able to take care of all of his favorites. Well, the favorites that aren’t inside the fortress.” Dan shook his head. “He once made one of the rosebushes in the greenhouses bloom in the middle of winter so he could thank our Stewardess. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.”

“What did she think of the rose?”

“She loved it, halfway because her name is Rosanna. Halfway because Phil could give you a rock with such grace you’d think it’s a gift from some Divine being.” If Divine beings were incredibly clumsy on a regular basis. Dan paused so suddenly Chris ran into the back of him. “Louise, are there any kids here that have magic that doesn't really fit in here? Like, over the age of fourteen.”

Louise made a face. “Not that I've heard of, but I've been busy trying to get everything set up for when you got here. Why?”

“Can you find out?”

“What, do you think someone here has Realms magic?”

“I really don't know. But if there is someone like that, I want to meet them.”

“I mean, there are adults that have moved here and had families here. One of the kids was orphaned recently, she's staying here.”

“I would like to meet her, if possible. How old is she?”

“Fifteen, I believe. I'll send someone to get her.”

Dan turned to look at Chris. “Find someone who can do the tests.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but I've got a really strong feeling about this.”

Chris nodded, walking off like he knew where he was going. 

“Tests? Like the ones they did on us back when they were renewing the treaty?” Louise asked. 

Dan nodded. “Exactly those ones.”

“Why?”

Dan shrugged. “It's a feeling I have. What's her name, this girl?”

“Tabitha. Very nice girl. Likes playing with the young children, though I think it's because it lets her play with the toys.”

Dan thought of Dragon, sitting comfortably in his saddlebag. “Alright.”

“Here, I'll get her tested. I'm sure you'll want to take her home with you if she's got the right magic. You get settled, and we’ll meet in my office. I have a bunch of notes about what’s going on with the searches there, too.”

Dan nodded. “Thanks, Louise.”

“Of course.” Louise walked off.

\-----

Dan had been staring at Louise’s notes and map for nearly an hour by the time someone else walked in the room. He was so used to looking at maps that had the Realms in the center of them that he’d almost entirely forgotten how Avalier was shaped, or the names of the countries and kingdoms farther south. It was hard to remember things like that when you were really just trying hard to keep a Realm running.

Dan had a twinge of nostalgia for the days when he and Phil had traveled around the Third Realm, doing their performance, getting to know the people, seeing bits of life he normally never would have seen, bringing joy... but those days were long gone now.

Dan looked up when a shadow fell across the map. Louise was standing there, with her hands firmly on the shoulders of a dark-haired girl. The girl had a scroll in her hands, and was staring at Dan with wide eyes.

“Hello.”

“She has the results on the scroll there.” Louise said. “Do you have, oh, good, you did make notes. I’m having copies of the descriptions made. We’ll get them to every border guard as soon as possible.” Louise scooped up some papers and gave Dan a hesitant grin and walked off again.

“You must be Tabitha.” Dan stood up, deliberately slouching some so this average-sized girl wouldn’t feel intimidated by his sheer height.

The girl nodded, then curtsied. “Lord Howell.”

She was the first person to call him that since he’d arrived in Avalier.

“I was told this scroll was important, but I don’t know what it says.” Tabitha said.

Right. Tabitha probably hadn’t learned how to read growing up. “I can read it out loud.” Dan assured her.

Tabitha placed the scroll on the table, then hastily took a step backwards, out of reach.

Dan made a note not to suddenly reach towards her and picked up the scroll. He laid it out on the table and began reading it out loud.

“As requested by Lord Daniel Howell of the Third Realm, the person of Tabitha Casper has been tested for the presence of great magic compatible with that of the Realms.” Dan’s breath caught as he started reading the next sentence. He’d never read one starting this way before. “According to the law that governs all Realms citizens, this shall be delivered to the appropriate persons so that it may be known that...” Dan stared at the scroll with wide eyes.

That Tabitha Casper has been found to have nobility magic compatible with the Realms.

“Tabitha? Where were your parents from?” Tabitha technically belonged to whoever governed the Realm her parents were from, and it had a 6/7ths chance of not being the Third Realm.

“The Fourth Realm, I think.” 

Curses. He and Phil couldn’t take her, then.

“May I ask why, Lord Howell?”

Dan nodded. “You have nobility magic, Tabitha. Do you want to go back to the Realms? Lord Fredrick and Lady Faye would be thrilled to have you.”

Tabitha looked at Dan with wide eyes for a very long moment, then gave a timid nod. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. Here, I’ll teach you how to talk to them.” Dan rolled the scroll back up. “You can ask them yourself.”


	24. The Possibility of Happiness

JP wasn't fit to travel. Brycelyn knew he knew that. He could barely stand, even after so much time spent trying to heal already. Not that he had stopped trying -- well, he wasn’t trying at the moment, since he hadn’t woken for the day yet.

Brycelyn had a suspicion that the blow that had sent JP to the ground had broken some bones somewhere, and that those hadn't healed.

Nate had some kind of healing abilities, though he never actually said how much or how good he was at it. And it seemed like he had to be singing or humming or playing his lute to do any kind of magic at all.

...Brycelyn was fairly sure Lord Howell had that limitation, too. Which would make sense, both Nate and Lord Howell had been born and spent their early years in Avalier. 

Speaking of Nate, he was currently also asleep. He hadn’t been getting a lot of it lately, due to taking most of the watch shifts at night, so Brycelyn decided not to disturb him. She had the morning shift, which was why she was awake now. JP hadn’t been taking any of the watches, but he hadn’t been able to stay focused long enough to take a watch, either, with how much pain he was in.

They were still in the shadows of the dragon bones. Well, they were in the copse of trees right next to the clearing that held the dragon bones. It was strange, knowing a such a large being had been killed here. In fact, Brycelyn was fairly sure the chunk of rock next to them was a remnant from a catapult or something. How else would you kill a dragon?

Tapestry vibrated softly under Brycelyn’s fingertips, and she looked down at it. She could have sworn the sword had been trying to talk to her the past few days. That wasn’t really possible, was it? Swords couldn’t talk -- even the magical ones didn’t have actual personalities.

Did they?

Someone stirred from behind her, and Brycelyn turned to see Nate sitting up, rubbing his face. “Snow gave me a map late last night.” Nate mumbled. “Wake JP. We need to get moving again, before the Baroness decides to send someone else after us -- someone who isn’t jumping through every loophole he can find to help us.”

Brycelyn nodded, getting to her feet and letting Tapestry dangle from its now-usual spot at her waist. “Do you think he can ride?”

“Probably not, but try it anyway. If we need to, we’ll tie him on.” Nate rolled to his feet, sighing. “You two still don’t know what happened here, do you?”

Brycelyn shook her head, walking over to JP. As she approached, Dante lifted his head and then lolled out his tongue as she scratched him behind the ears. 

“Hey, it’s time to get up.” Brycelyn knelt and gently shook JP’s shoulder until her intended stirred and then opened his eyes. “We’re leaving today.”

“Oh. Okay.” JP pushed himself into a sitting position, grimacing as he did so. His injuries had been wrapped by improvised bandages made from the lower half of Brycelyn’s outer skirt, but that had been about the rest they could do without supplies. They’d switched them out the night before, but Brycelyn could see where blood had soaked through.

JP definitely wasn’t healed enough to be moving safely, but Nate was right. Sooner or later, someone other than Gar was going to be sent after them, and the more distance between them and the Baroness, the better.

“Here’s the map.” Nate handed a scroll to Brycelyn. “I’m going to check on the horses, get them ready.”

Brycelyn nodded, unrolling the scroll between her and JP. 

“Hey, Pillow, go get in your pocket. We’re leaving in just a minute.” JP said.

Pillow obediently squeaked and rolled off JP’s leg before somehow pulling itself into the pocket on Brycelyn’s bag a few feet away. How it had gotten so far away during the night, Brycelyn would never know. Probably Pillow or Dante or both.

Speaking of Dante, the little corgi had gotten up and followed Nate to get the horses, so it was now just Brycelyn and JP.

“So, based on how long and fast we’ve travelled, we’re probably about here.” Brycelyn pointed at the map. “We’re still a good ways away from the border into Avalier. We don’t have any highways to travel along, so it’s probably going to take us a good month or more to get there. It’s going to be really rough on you, riding all cut up.” Brycelyn frowned, then looked up to see that JP wasn’t looking at the map, but at her. “What?”

“You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met.” JP said, and something from the tone of his voice told her he was being completely serious.

Brycelyn raised an eyebrow. “That’s great and I’m flattered and all, but is now really the best time for that?”

“I don’t see why not.” JP said. “Unless you’re uncomfortable with it, of course. Just let me know and I’ll stop.”

Brycelyn blinked, then looked at the map for a long moment. She’d always known she was probably going to end up in an arranged marriage, and so getting to actually meet and get to know JP before their wedding day was much more than she ever could have expected. But she’d never before considered that he might treat her the way he did because he actually liked her and not because he was afraid of Cry or something like that. After all, love and even like weren’t required in arranged marriages -- just duty.

“Do you really mean it?” JP certainly wasn’t the first person to say she was pretty. Cry had said it a few times, in that loving, older sibling kind of way. Visiting nobles from Bossatron had said it, many of whom had been considerably older than Brycelyn herself. Some had even been older than Lord Barnes.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

“It’s generally considered good manners to compliment the girl you’re supposed to marry.” Brycelyn pointed out, meeting JP’s gaze. “Though, Lord Barnes never did, back when it looked like I was going to end up married to him.”

JP made a face. “I can’t imagine either of you were very happy about the idea.”

“We’re nobles, JP.” Brycelyn stood, scooping up the map. “It doesn’t really matter how happy we are with any political arrangement like marriage. It’s our job to do it no matter what.”

“I know that. I mean, I didn’t used to, but I do now.” JP hesitated, then slowly moved to get to his feet, whimpering slightly at the pain it caused. “But happiness is always good. At the very least, not unhappiness.”

Brycelyn rolled the map up again and picked up her bag, then scooped up Tapestry, placing them both in their respective places. 

“Are you happy with the idea of us getting married? With our arranged marriage?” JP met Brycelyn’s eyes, and she’d never seen him more serious.

Brycelyn stuck the map in her bag, then offered her arm to help JP walk to the horses. “I’m not unhappy with it.” After all, he was around her age, he was from the Realms, he didn’t have the chance of becoming King, and the Seventh Realm -- which JP would undoubtedly one day end up being the Lord of -- wasn’t too far from her childhood home in Quintal. At least, not compared to somewhere like Quartal (because until JP had come along, her other, less likely, option for marriage was J-Fred).

“Well, I mean, that’s good, but you deserve more than that.” JP’s arm went over her shoulders, and they slowly made their way to where the horses were now saddled. “There’s gotta be a way to make it so both duty and happiness can happen.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not sure how that can happen right now.” Brycelyn said. “Plenty of arranged marriages work out fine -- most do, actually -- with both parties being content. I mean, Lords Howell and Lester figured out things that work for them. So did Lord Fredrick and Lady Faye.”

“They’re all each other’s best friends.” JP pointed out. “They talk to each other. A lot. And they spend a lot of time together. And they had years to get adjusted to being married and happy with each other before they got put in positions of big responsibility.”

“We might not get that chance, I know.” Brycelyn guided JP’s hand to his horse, where his weight left her and slid onto the horse. “We’ll make do. Everyone does.”

JP just looked at her for a long time. “No.”

Brycelyn frowned. “We can’t back out of this, JP. We’re stuck with each other.”

“I want you to be happy.” JP said. 

A warm bit filled Brycelyn’s heart, like a tiny ember. “I want you to be happy, too.”

“We’ll figure it out.” JP promised, whimpering slightly as he pulled himself onto his horse. “We can be the happiest arranged marriage in the history of the world.”

Brycelyn laughed, surprised when it actually felt genuine. She didn’t know how they would do that, but some part of her really wanted to try.

\-----

It took almost three weeks before Nate pulled out his lute again, at least for the purpose of continuing the story he’d been showing the two young nobles.

JP had a pit in his stomach the entire time. Well, that wasn’t true. It would come and go. Most of the time, it was gone. But whenever he thought about Wade, or Molly, or the Seventh Realm, it came back. Maybe it was a result of his fever, or his leg being a little -- “little” -- infected.

“I wish I could tell you why.” Nate said, brushing off his lute as they sat around a small fire that night. It was definitely getting chilly, and JP wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of camping and traveling in snow. He’d done plenty of that coming home from the demon camp. “But I have as little information about what’s going on out there as you do right now.”

JP sighed, only to feel Brycelyn’s hand wrap in his. He gave her a reassuring smile – he would be fine, really, he would. He was just worried.

“I think it’s time you two saw the entire rest of the story.” Nate said quietly. JP almost didn’t hear him over the soft crackles and pops of the fire.

“Doesn’t it take a lot out of you?” Brycelyn asked. “Won’t that be too much?”

Nate shrugged. “It does take a lot, but if your demon friend and Snow are right, you’re going to need all of this information very soon, and I can’t promise I’ll be able to show you once we reach Avalier.”

Brycelyn hesitated.

“If anything goes wrong, the two of you can run.”

Pillow gave a soft squeak, and Dante borked.

“The four of you, then.” Nate corrected himself. His fingers brushed lightly across the lute, sending amazing shivers through the air. “Are you ready?”

JP looked at Brycelyn, waiting for her approval to give Nate the go-ahead. They were in this together.

Brycelyn gave a small nod, and JP turned to Nate. “I think so.”

So the magical music began, and the world of falling leaves and half-bare branches with the somehow-comforting musk of decay that autumn always brung and the crackling of fire turned into darkness and the smell of blood and rotting flesh and half-digested meals and the shouts and screams of battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entirety of next chapter is a flashback.


	25. The Rise of the Demon Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder, this is a flashback. (Except for the very end.)

“Where is my brother?” Based on the uniform, the horsewoman was a general of some kind. Which explained why she had a horse, and how she could shout over the sound of battle.

“Defending the southern half!” someone unseen replied.

The woman swore softly, but whirled her horse (which, thankfully, did have its own armor) and moved in some direction that had to be south.

Slowly, JP realized that he could actually see things that weren’t lit by the torches -- there was still light. Just not nearly as much as he was used to from three moons.

He glanced up, then froze.

The only moon visible was the blue moon -- large and full and somewhat purple. Was this what it looked like during a blue moon? Or was this the result of something else mixing with a blue moon? Like a blood moon?

 _It isn't right now._ JP reminded himself. _You're living a memory, this can't actually hurt you._ For some reason, that actually did work, and JP’s breathing slowed to a more normal pace.

The woman on the horse though -- JP didn't recognize her. Who was she?

When the tentacle-y demon JP and Brycelyn had helped fight slammed into the horse, though, JP just about screamed. Maybe he did. He couldn't tell.

He really didn't like that demon. It was absolutely terrifying.

Incredibly loud screeching and groaning filled the air, and the ground shook so violently that JP was sure he would have been thrown to the ground if he was actually standing.

But he wasn't, so he got to see the Destroyer fall as a giant rift opened up under it.

The woman got up from where she'd rolled, then ran a few feet away to where Snow, once again decked out in full armor, was pulling some other armored person's arm over his shoulders as the second person slumped and stumbled. The second person had a crown on their helmet -- the prince, then. Gar.

“Maybe don't tear the world open.”

“I'd rather not have you die.” Gar's voice said, a bit unsteady.

So the prince in this story definitely was Gar. But how? Was this....

This was before he was a demon.

Then what happened to Gar’s Protector? What happened to Snow?

“Are you injured already or is that from the last battle?” Snow asked as Gar's free arm hugged his side.

“Last time.” Gar said quietly. “We're going to lose. We need help.”

“There's nobody left to help. We're it.” Snow said.

“Do you really think they'd respond?” The princess shook her head. “They haven't so far.”

“We can try.” Gar stood more under his own power.

“Are you healing all by yourself?” Snow asked suspiciously.

Gar glanced up at the moon. “I don't know. This is the first time there's been a blue moon since I was born -- maybe that's doing something.”

The battlefield went silent, just for a split second, before demons scattered.

“What's going on?” Snow asked.

The shadow of a dragon passed over the moon, and quite a few screams rang out.

“See?” Gar said. “One came.”

“We’re not out of trouble.” Snow warned, pulling Gar away from the giant crevasse in the ground that Gar had somehow made.

Gar complied, though he was limping as he moved, and didn’t take his arm from off Snow’s shoulders.

“I’m glad you’re getting energy from the moon event and all, but I don’t think it’s going to really compensate for all the times you’ve been rearranging the geography of this area.” Snow said.

“Do you see those demons up there?” Gar pointed to a good few hundred feet away. “Those are the ones in charge. The tallest one, with the spiky armor, keeps summoning more demons. If we can take it out, we can stand a chance at surviving the night.”

The princess nodded. “You flank them from behind. I’ll distract them.”

“...you’re more powerful. It makes more sense for Snow and I to distract them.” Gar said, helmet tilting slightly.

“I don’t have a wife to go home to.” The princess shook her head, then turned to Snow. “Didn’t you tell him?”

“Nope.” Snow replied.

The princess sighed. “It’s been four years, Snow. Tell him. And flank them from behind.”

“Fine.” Snow said. Then he turned to Gar. “You don’t pay me enough for dealing with you like this.”

“I don’t decide how much you get paid.” Gar responded. “Come on.” He pulled his arm from over Snow’s shoulders with a grunt and started limping towards the demons.

It was a process that involved fighting through all the demons they encountered, so it was taking a while.

“So, what four-year-old secret are you keeping from me?” Gar finally asked, casually pulling his sword from a demon and watching it collapse.

“Well, your parents arranged your marriage for you.”

“That’s definitely not new news, Snow. I’ve known that for as long as I can remember.” Gar slashed a gaping hole in the side of a soldier with an unfamiliar coat-of-arms, and it crumpled.

Snow blocked a sword stroke from an enemy before finishing them off as well, ignoring the blood that now coated his sword -- and a fair amount of his and Gar’s armor. “She’s nice. Think you would have married her if the treaty hadn’t demanded it?”

“Probably not, no, considering she’s a noble and would be married to someone else.” Gar slammed the pommel of his sword into another enemy -- human soldiers now, with the demons slowly getting closer. Apparently considerably easier to kill.

The sword Gar was using, JP realized, was Tapestry.

“Huh. Makes me wonder if you would still have the same kid or if it would be with her or how that works.”

The speed at which Gar sliced off a head and whirled to face Snow was almost inhuman. “What?”

“You have a kid.” Snow hacked into a demon, apparently not too concerned at the secret he’d been keeping from Gar.

“Since when? Why didn’t you tell me?” Gar ducked to avoid a blow.

“About three and a half years, I think.” Snow shrugged somewhat. “I don’t know anything about the kid, except they’re probably a complete brat.”

Gar gave Snow a frigid look. “Why haven’t I learned about this?”

“I forgot.”

Gar swore at Snow. “You forgot? How do you forget to tell me something like this?”

“Please don’t freeze everything.” Snow attempted to hold still, but had to ungracefully dodge a sword. “Or do, but the bad everythings.”

Gar swore again, and when he lifted his left hand to fend off an attacker there, a giant ice shard was being held in it like a dagger. “Snow!”

“Fine, I’ll freeze everything.”

Ice crackled, and everything in the immediate vicinity of the two froze -- enemies, landscape, blood flying through the air.

Snow took off towards the demons, Gar right on his heels.

A sob tore through the air, and the ground shook dangerously, seeming to crack.

Gar froze, staring at the area in front of the demons. “No.” The word was impossibly quiet -- if JP had been physically standing next to Gar, he probably wouldn’t have heard it.

“Hello, dearest prince.” The hugely tall demon with spiky armor turned around. “I really hope you weren’t that fond of your sister.”

The shadowy demon materialized behind Snow, then grabbed him much like she had to JP all those weeks before.

When Gar turned in alarm, the hugely tall demon grinned and drove his sword of blood and shadows through Gar’s back.

Everything went silent as Gar fell to his knees, gasping painfully for air.

Snow was reaching for Gar, and Gar reached slightly for Snow, even as Snow’s own breathing became erratic, raspy even.

The sword of blood and shadows slid out of Gar, and he fell onto his hands, then onto his side, reddish-purple shadows gathering around him.

“No!” Snow screamed. It was the only thing JP could hear. “Let - me - go!” With each word, he struggled harder against the Lifeless’ grasp, until finally he was dropped and scrambling towards Gar -- each movement more and more shaky than the last.

Snow grabbed Gar, who was completely limp as the shadows got stronger and thicker, dancing across Gar’s armor, and cradled him gently. “Hey, come on. Don’t let this happen.”

“Please. Nobody can stop being a demon. The process has already begun.” The spiky-armored demon grinned once again.

As if on cue, the shadows started melting through the armor.

“Besides, you’ll be dead soon enough anyways. Don’t worry about him.”

Snow’s breathing was so fast-paced it could only be described as hyperventilation, and his hands were shaking uncontrollably as he took Gar’s helmet and once again pulled it off, allowing the light of the blue moon to illuminate the horror that was happening.

The shadows were writhing under Gar’s skin, then sinking into his body.

Gar’s eyes opened, only to start changing color into the red and blue that always gave JP such chills. The new colors didn’t settle, though, and based off the uncrossing of the arms by the spiky demon, this was different than how things normally went.

 _“His eyes.”_ The Lifeless murmured. _“They are changing.”_

“Impossible.” Spiky demon declared.

 _“Perhaps not, Soulstealer. The moon events may have something to do with it. And you have never turned a prince before.”_ The Lifeless glided over to the heap of armor that was Gar desperately trying to focus on Snow and Snow gently cradling Gar. _“We will see.”_

“You’re dying.” Gar’s voice was faint, almost imperceptible. His gauntleted hand reached up and brushed the side of Snow’s helmet before dropping some.

“Well, you’re becoming a demon. I imagine that’ll kill me anyway.” Snow grabbed Gar’s hand.

Gar frowned. “No. The shadows are killing you. Our bond is fine.”

Without warning, Gar took his free hand and grabbed Tapestry from where it had fallen when he had, then pressed it into Snow’s hand before folding his own hand over it. “You’ll...you need to live.”

“But --” Snow cut himself off, then dipped his head. “Alright. I trust you, my prince.”

The Lifeless hissed. _“No. He’s erasing my control.”_

“Fix it, then. It’s your magic.” The spiky demon  -- the Soulstealer -- ordered.

The Lifeless once again grabbed Snow. Almost instantly, the Protector started screaming.

The shadows finished sinking under Gar’s skin, and his eyes finally completely shifted color.

Snow collapsed, falling and remaining unmoving even after the Lifeless let him go and Gar stood, absolutely effortlessly -- eyes glowing brightly.

 _“A new prince.”_ The Lifeless made some sort of bowing/curtsying motion to Gar.

The Soulstealer dipped his head. “Welcome to being a demon, human. Or, should I say, Garuku Bluemoon, my new brother.”

Gar turned Tapestry over in his hands before looking up at the Soulstealer. “Why did you do this when you could have just killed me?”

“We needed you. You just turned out to be more powerful than we expected. Let’s see what your new form looks like. Hang on, brother, this will only hurt for a few minutes.” The Soulstealer swung his sword, and Gar went down, this time remaining unmoving when he hit the ground.

The Soulstealer turned to the human standing next to him and nodded. “He’s ready to summon now.”

The human nodded, and as they began some magic of some kind, the dragon once again flew in front of the moon. Something incredibly large hit it, and it screeched a sound of pure agony before stumbling off into the distance -- presumably to fall and die where JP had fought the Demon Prince.

The scene shimmered and blurred and Nate’s music once again reached JP’s ears, but everything quickly settled back to normal.

Except now the scene was new. The Demon Prince, in his full demon form, was standing over some sort of circle in a stone floor. The area was bathed in firelight -- something was burning.

“Forget them.” The Soulstealer ordered, walking in. “The Queen, the Lady of the dead Prince -- you saw their bodies.” The Demon Prince stiffened and closed his eyes, even as the Soulstealer continued. “The kingdom is already being absorbed into the Empire. All you have to do is raise the magic. I’ll handle the rest.”

The Demon Prince walked around the edge of the circle, wing shifting slightly, Tapestry in hand. “Are you sure you can handle draining the magic of an entire kingdom? Surely setting the entire city on fire spent quite a bit of energy.”

“Of course I can handle it. The royalty is dead, it will be easily controlled.”

The Demon Prince nodded, then raised Tapestry over the circle. Soft, glowing, royal blue threads slowly appeared, spreading outward from the circle, which almost looked to be a knot of some kind.

The magic closest to the Soulstealer sort of spun around him, but didn’t do anything else.

“I’m not dead, Vozun.” The Demon Prince didn’t break his gaze from the tapestry of magic. “You corrupted my magic, but it’s still there.”

“You’re not the prince here any longer.” The Soulstealer drew his sword. “Break the seal.”

The Demon Prince’s eyes flashed brown for a second, and his grip on Tapestry changed in an instant. An instant later, the sword tore through the knot of magic, cutting threads.

The magic stopped drifting near the Soulstealer, instead beginning to fall completely still.

“What are you doing?”

“Breaking the seal.” The Demon Prince said. “And making it so you will never have this power available to you.”

The magic threads began to tear and rip slightly, but not much before they began binding together once again.

“It’s the heart of the magic, Garuku. It’s not going to die any time soon.”

“I know.” Royal blue threads appeared inside Gar, mingled with white and that demonic reddish-purple.

Gar brought Tapestry down on the magic again and again and again, leaving it writhing and rippling and screaming.

Cuts appeared in the royal blue threads running through Gar, only to be filled by the demon threads. That only made it easier to see -- the blue had been split into seven sections.

And then everything faded, a long note sounding a little bit off-tune.

JP blinked, then stared at Nate, who almost dropped his lute with bloody fingertips. Nate’s shoulders sagged. “That’s how it all started. There’s more, of course, but the rest is fairly well recorded in history books. This...this wasn’t.”

“Did you know that all happened?”

“I knew some of it. I had never ventured to the end of the story before, no.” Nate leaned against his tree trunk, shaking violently. “Though Snow had told me ... how...”

Nate tipped sideways, plopping into the autumn mud without another sound.


	26. Cold and Sick

Dan wasn't particularly fond of the cold. So when the air went from chilly to actually freezing his breath and sending frost over everything, he was a bit upset. Especially since the colder it got, the less chance he had of finding the kids alive.

He and Chris had crossed the border into Suzerain the night before, at a place without a road or border guards. Louise had some of her men waiting there with the rest of Dan's guard so Dan could bring the two young nobles with him whenever he found them and they could get treated for the injuries they definitely had by now. Maybe their guard needed help, too. 

Dan and Chris did have basic supplies with them -- bandages and a poultice to help fight infections, as well as a decent supply of dried fruit and meat. Not the best, but almost certainly better than what the kids had been eating.

“Are you sure you can ‘hear their harmonies’?” Chris asked.

Dan nodded. “Realms magic sounds different than any other magic I've ever listened to.”

“How do you listen to magic? Does it talk?”

“It sings.” Dan corrected. “It sings beautifully.”

Dan didn't usually listen to magic. It took a lot of concentration, and he didn't notice much about the actual world around him. He'd tried to show Phil how to do it once, and while Phil could listen to it if Dan was doing the work, he couldn't do it himself.

“I'll keep an eye out.” Chris promised. “Since it's my job and all.”

“Thank you.” Dan reached his magic out, slowly tuning into the music of magic. 

Most of what he heard was quiet, sleeping softly, not really there. Then, distantly, there was the discord he'd come to associate with demons and their magic -- even though he'd never heard it on Molly's Protector the few times they'd been in the same room before.

Then several faint hums that instantly got his full attention -- three Realms hums, and one Avaliera. Dan had never listened to either JP or Brycelyn's specific harmonies, but that third one was definitely close to what Cry had. Either it was the Sup Guy that had been taken with the two nobles, or it was Brycelyn. 

Either way, it was where they wanted to go.

Dan adjusted their course.

\-----

Two days later, the hums were just around the corner. And if Dan hadn't been paying attention to them, he and Chris would have completely missed them.

But Dan was paying attention to the hums, and pulled his horse to a stop before looking around slowly. There. Hiding in the bushes and behind rocks and very much out of sight.

Now that he was staring at the area, he could see the signs of people there. Mostly, he could see signs of horses. Horses. Good. That would make it considerably easier to get them back over the border to Avalier.

Dan quietly dismounted, somewhat surprised he hadn’t fallen off when trying to do so, before walking towards the makeshift camp.

Small borks filled the air, and Dan jerked backwards, ultimately tripping and falling and landing painfully on a rock. 

Well, if the barking hadn’t woken someone up, Dan’s swearing had. 

He looked up at the sound of a sword unsheathing, only to realize the tip of it was under his chin -- the hilt of it being held by a vaguely familiar, if worn down, young woman.

“Hi. Long time no see.” She had a sword to his throat and that was what he decided to go with? Good job, Dan.

Brycelyn’s eyes widened, and the sword tip moved away from Dan’s throat, which he instantly rubbed to make sure he hadn’t been nicked anywhere. 

“Lord Howell.” Her voice verged on disbelief.

“It’s really me. I mean, I’ve got a guard coming after what just happened, if you want to see the sigil of the Third Realm to be sure.” Dan gestured backwards some, where he knew for sure Chris was approaching quickly. He could already hear Chris’ footsteps splashing in the mud. “Or I could show you my signet ring.” He already had that on him, hiding on a chain around his neck.

“No, no, no, I believe you.” Brycelyn sheathed the sword, swaying a little. It was then Dan really got a good look at her -- she was clearly exhausted, and seemed much frailer than could be healthy. Mud caked her feet and dress and streaked in her braided hair. 

“Where’s JP?” Dan got to his feet, preparing himself to catch Brycelyn if she collapsed. 

“Over --” Brycelyn coughed slightly, her whole body flinching. “-- over here.” She turned slightly before stumbling a little.

“How long have you been here?” Dan reached to steady her, but hesitated. He didn’t know if touching her would be something she was okay with at the moment.

“A ... week? I’m not entirely...” Brycelyn mumbled the last bit. “...couldn’t drag both of them along.”

Both? Did that mean the guard that had helped them escape was still with them?

Chris’ footsteps came to an abrupt stop, and Dan glanced up to see his guard looking between Dan and Brycelyn. He quietly gestured for Chris to stand down and put his sword away, then continued following and listening to and watching Brycelyn.

A soft horse whiffle reached Dan’s ears, and Brycelyn came to a stop, more or less falling into a sitting position next to a giant fallen tree. “They’re inside.”

Dan crouched next to Brycelyn, nodding. “Chris, get the supplies.”

Chris moved off quietly, and Dan looked inside the tree trunk to see two still forms. For a second, it didn’t look like either of them were breathing, but then he spotted the tiny clouds of freezing breath.

How would he get them out? Was there another entrance he wasn’t seeing? 

No, it didn’t look like it. Dan turned to Brycelyn, wondering if she was going to give any indication of how they’d been solving this problem for the past few weeks.

“It rolls.” Brycelyn petted the small dog as she spoke.

Ah.

Dan pushed on the top, and the hollow wood simply tipped over, revealing JP and an unknown --

Dan sat back on his heels, staring at the man. “Who’s he?” Well, he might already know the answer to that, but maybe he was wrong.

“Guard. Helped us get this far.” Brycelyn seemed content to speak in the broken sentences now, and Dan wasn’t going to push it.

Dan nodded, then looked up as Chris approached, this time leading both their horses. 

“They don’t look good.” Chris murmured, gaze drifting to JP and... him.

“All three of them have been through a lot.” Dan tried to ignore the sense of familiarity he was getting every time he looked at the guard’s face. “Let’s get them treated, for now.”

Chris nodded.

\-----

“You seem distracted.” Chris murmured, watching the fire.

Dan nodded slightly, looking over at the three sleeping figures. Brycelyn already looked better, but JP’s fever wasn’t likely to break any time soon, judging by the definite infection in his leg. And the guard... “I recognize their guard.” 

“Really? How?”

“We ran into each other a lot growing up.” Dan hesitated. How much should he say? Brycelyn didn’t seem to know who Nate really was, but Dan wasn’t surprised at that. But did Nate remember who he really was, who he had been before this? Sure, it was unlikely he would have lost his memories from an injury or something, but ... the last time anyone had seen him, he’d chased after a shadowy figure -- his guards had said it was a demon of some kind -- and completely disappeared. Who knew what had happened after that?

“Oh, so he was the kid of someone that worked for your parents.” Chris said.

“Not really.” If you wanted to be real, Dan was the kid of someone who worked for Nate’s parents.

“Oh.” Chris tilted his head. “I’m not following you.”

“That’s alright.” Dan shook his head, standing. “I’m going to check on them.”

None of JP or Brycelyn or Nate were doing well, but Dan simply couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Nate. Well, besides things like having been stuck in the cold and without much in the way of food, but that was something all three of them had had to deal with. But Nate had barely stirred, even when Dan and Chris had moved him.

He was hoping Nate was simply exhausted. 

“How’re they supposed to ride?” Chris asked. “Heir JP can’t even sit up right now, he’s so sick.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Dan murmured. “Go ahead and get some sleep. I’ll take the first watch. Besides, I’m overdue to talk to Phil.”

Chris nodded.

\-----

It wasn’t until around noon the next day that Dan was actually able to contact Phil -- he’d been asleep the first time Dan had tried, and busy the next. By that point, they were on their way. Brycelyn was holding onto the Sup Guy -- Pillow, if he remembered right -- with Dante in one of her saddlebags. JP was staying on his horse by himself, barely, but Dan had tied a lead rope anyway. As for Nate, well, Dan’s solution to that was to tie Nate to the saddle. Not perfect, but it would do.

“Are you alright?” Phil asked, forcing Dan to realize Phil had actually accepted the communication spell this time. 

“I’m fine. Well, I’m cold,” Dan had wrapped his cloak around JP to keep him warm, “but I’ll manage. I found them.”

A long pause. “Oh, thank goodness.” Phil murmured, relief sweeping across his voice. “Some good news, at least. How are they?”

“They’re in rough shape.” Dan glanced over at them again, quickly checking them for signs of falling off or for Nate stirring -- which he had a few times, but not really. “Alive, though, and I’m planning on keeping them that way, even if it means we travel at half the speed we normally would.”

“Good, good. Are you taking them to Aevor?”

“Louise has got healers already ready for them. I’m worried by the time they’re healed enough to really travel, the snows will be here, and a month across the ocean in winter would be absolutely brutal on them -- on anyone, really, but they’re both sick and I don’t want them to relapse.”

“Of course.” Phil instantly agreed, then paused. “It will be late spring by the time you have them back, then?”

“I hope so.” Dan frowned, aware Brycelyn was watching him quietly. “Suzerain might attack Avalier by then, though. If it’s too dangerous to cross by ship, we’ll be stuck until the war is over. Or I might have to risk them relapsing and cross in the winter.”

“I hope not.” Phil sighed. “Do what you need to do.”

“How are things going on the front at home, by the way?” Hopefully most of the fighting was slowed down during the cold, but there was honestly no way to make sure of that.

They were in sight of the border now, and Dan almost sighed in relief, silently thanking whatever gods existed. There were the rest of his guards and Louise’s men and someone who could only be a healer. 

“Phil?” Dan looked to his right, where Phil normally was, and frowned when he wasn’t there. Of course he wasn’t there, he was over a thousand miles away, back at home.

Phil gave a heavy sigh. “They broke the protection spells on the Fourth Realm last week. Apparently all it took was the Soulstealer. I’ve been busy getting refugees settled. Based on how they’re moving now, Suzerain's army is going to be coming through Quartal into the Third Realm -- probably by the end of winter.”

Dan’s grip on the reins tightened, causing his horse to flick an ear at him in annoyance. “I should be there. You shouldn't have to face that alone.”

“It's not ideal.” Phil admitted. “Zombie arrived last night with the last of the soldiers from the Seventh Realm, though, at least the ones that aren't keeping an eye on the border there, so that will help.” Phil paused. “No, Peej, I haven't told him yet.”

“What else has happened?”

“We found one. He just got tested yesterday, but --”

“Hang on, what did you find?” Phil couldn't be saying what Dan thought he was saying, could he?

“He's barely fourteen, and he's been in the orphanage since he couldn't even walk. He says he wants his name to be Dil Howlter, at least if we decided to completely adopt him, and I think we should.”

“He has great magic?” Dan's eyes widened.

“Yes, that's what I've been trying to say.”

Dan let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. “That's fantastic.”

“I talked to Matthias, and he suggested that as soon as you get back with Brycelyn and JP and Tabitha, JP can help Dil and Tabitha transition into all the different ways things are done, since he's done it himself.”

“I'll talk to him about it as soon as he's coherent.” Dan promised.

“Do you want to adopt Dil?” Phil asked. “I mean, we don't have to if you don't want to.”

“I feel like that would be weird. Just, these are my dads, they're about a decade older than I am. Which, when you think about it, is probably why Wade just became JP's guardian instead of adopting him.”

“True.” Phil murmured.

“I'm about to cross the border back into Avalier, and I'm going to need to answer questions, I'm sure.”

“Of course. I'll talk to you later. Be safe.”

“Be safe.”


	27. The Conflict of Emotion and Duty

One of the worst things about winter, Cry decided, was the fact that his mask was indeed made of metal and got very cold if he didn’t pay enough attention to it. Even if he was inside. So he took it off.

At the moment, he was entirely alone in the rooms reserved for Fifth Realm nobility at the palace in Primus, which was nice. He hadn’t had a lot of alone time recently, with the hours and hours and hours he and the other nobles had been pouring into strategy and defense and figuring out who needed to go where. Sure, he knew the others well, but it was still completely exhausting. And sure, he was technically being guarded, but Dlive was standing outside the door in the hall.

Cry wondered why he, of all people, had ended up in charge of the well-being and happiness of some 45,000 people.

Cry sighed, rubbing his face. He couldn’t do this alone. The only reason he was even able to be in Primus was because Jess and Ken were taking care of everything at home. 

Cry would much rather be taking care of the day-to-day parts of running a Realm than dealing with the army. He would much rather there not be a war at all. 

But he didn’t get a choice, not now.

Not for the first time, he wished Felix was with him, if for no other reason than to have a long-time friend to talk to. 

Not for the first time, he felt like Felix was sitting next to him on the couch, trying to comfort him, murmuring some sort of reassurance that everything would be okay.

But when Cry looked, Felix wasn’t there. 

Cry groaned and put his face in his hands. He couldn’t really talk to anyone about this -- nobody in Primus had lost a Protector. It was pretty much unheard of in recent generations, to have a Protector die with so much of a noble’s life ahead of them -- sure, things happened late in life, but...

Someone knocked on the door, and Cry sighed again. After this war ended, he was going to take a few years and just hide. Head up north. Make Brycelyn and JP run the Fifth Realm for a while.

Yeah. He could do that.

Another knock on the door, and Cry slid his mask back on, feeling the all-too-familiar magic take place once again, holding the mask in his face.

“Come in.” Cry stood, wincing slightly as his side and leg twinged. He hadn’t known the old injuries were going to do that in the cold, but he wasn’t terribly surprised. He hadn’t let Wade finish healing the first set of injuries, and then he’d gone ahead and gotten hurt badly at the wedding fight (though not as badly as Wade or Pat, to be fair) and reopened them and he definitely wasn’t healed when he fought the Destroyer.

He needed to really practice fighting, then, for when it would come down to it. He would normally practice with Felix, but...

The door opened, and Cry turned to see Dlive leaning in the doorframe and Josh walking towards him, looking just about exhausted as Cry felt. Ohm stood quietly against the wall.

Cry bowed slightly, but didn’t bother to say anything. Hopefully Josh wouldn’t mind that Cry hadn’t done the full formal bow. Though, judging by the way Josh glanced at Cry’s arm pressing a bit too hard on his side, Josh had guessed the reason.

“You’ve been getting quieter and quieter over the past few meetings.” Josh observed. “I can’t tell if it’s because you’re tired of the war or tired of the meetings or tired of people or desperately missing your sister or in too much physical pain or some combination of those.”

“Yeah.” Cry sighed. 

Josh sat on the couch, gesturing for Cry to take the other seat.

Cry obeyed.

“I just got done talking to Phil. Dan has found Brycelyn and JP, and he’s taking them to Aevor for the time being.”

Cry sat up straight, nearly gasping at the pain that caused. 

Josh held up a hand before continuing to speak. “I don’t know what kind of condition they’re in -- Phil said he’d been told they were in ‘rough shape,’ and some kind of sick, but your guess is as good as mine as to what that means. Dan will be staying with them until they’re fit to travel, but he wants to be cautious. Apparently their health is fragile enough at the moment that he doesn’t want to risk taking them across the ocean in the winter unless Suzerain attacks Avalier, and there’s no way they can travel by land. It could easily be summer before they’re back in the Realms.”

Cry slumped into the couch cushions. A year. By that point, he wouldn’t have seen Brycelyn in a year -- and she was out of range for a communication spell, especially if she was doing as badly as it sounded. 

Josh simply waited patiently.

“I mean, I’m glad she’s in safe hands, but that’s a long time still. Something could still go really wrong.” Cry shoved his hand through his hair, pulling some of it out of the small boof of a ponytail he’d started wearing. 

“Suzerain could attack Avalier, you mean.” Josh dipped his head. “Yes. They could. In which case, Dan will do what he can to keep them safe. Hopefully, by then, they’ll be well enough to not be stuck in one place.”

Cry wanted to point out that saying ‘by then,’ Josh sounded like he was fairly sure Suzerain was going to attack Avalier, but he held his tongue. Josh wasn’t finished.

“Now, I think we’ve said about as much on the topic as will be useful.” Josh looked up at Cry. “You’re only going to get more and more restless the longer you’re here.”

Josh was sending him away. Of course.

“Molly’s struggling. Phil’s the only one to hear from her in the past fortnight. I’m sending you to help her.”

Standing on the other side of the doorframe than Ohm, Dlive looked up, clearly interested in what Josh was saying.

“Collaborate with Stephanie. Gather whatever supplies you need to, even if you need to swing by Quintal before heading to Septimal. Talk to Molly as often as you can, and keep me posted. Stay with her until the quarantine is over and the blue moon has passed.”

“You think something is going to happen then?”

“It’s certainly possible.” Josh sighed, moving as if to stand. “Oh, and Cry? See if you can talk to my brother, or anyone who was with him. Then talk to me. If he’s died from his injuries, start the courtship ceremonies with Molly. If he hasn’t, I’ll have Cheyenne go to Quintal. One way or another, I want you married by the end of this upcoming fall.”

Cry grimaced, but simply nodded.

Josh stood, keeping Cry from doing the same with a firm hand on his shoulder. “See a healer before the second meeting today and get the pain taken care of. I need you able to move around. And if Ohm's complaints are any indication, you're long overdue for a break from your mask. Take it off sometimes.”

And then Josh walked out, leaving Dlive standing there with an expression of trained neutrality and Cry bracing himself for the possibility of marrying someone already engaged to someone else.

\-----

Cheyenne wasn’t happy to hear of Cry’s most recent set of orders, but it didn’t really matter. Cry wasn’t happy about it. Josh wasn’t happy about it, but had decided it was necessary for some reason.

Some reason. Cry knew why, he just didn’t want to think about it. Molly brought in new blood to the nobles, and was invaluable for that reason alone. Wade, being Heir to the kingdom, was the logical choice to marry her, but if he was dead, then Molly would be married to someone else. Apparently that someone else was supposed to be Cry. Probably because the Fifth Realm neighbored the Seventh, and so it would be easier for her and she’d end up happier. 

At least, Cry hoped that was the reasoning.

In any case, he had left Primus.

“Are you looking forward to going back to Septimal?” Cry quietly asked Dlive one night.

“It’s home.” Dlive shrugged. “Though I don’t like the possibility of getting sick.”

Cry nodded slightly, but let his thoughts drift off.

“Have you ever been there?” Dlive asked curiously.

“Once. I stayed a month as a teenager while my parents did some kind of business with Havendal. It was the first time I really got to know just how complicated court can be, even on a Realm level.”

“Didn’t see much of the city, then.”

Cry shook his head. “Not really. How does it compare to Quintal?”

“Bigger and busier. On days when the ports are busy, there are a couple thousand extra people ready to wander through the city. It used to be a bit of a problem, but Wade put a stop to that pretty quickly.” Dlive gave a soft sigh. “Honestly, life under Wade is easier than it ever was under Havendal.”

“It’s good that people like him. Makes life easier.” Cry almost smiled under his mask until he remembered that he needed to try and contact someone who had been with Wade. “Who went with him that can answer communication spells?”

“Pat,” Dlive frowned, “but if Wade’s dead then so is he.”

Cry sighed. “I’ll try to contact Jack, but he’s going to be busy with being a new king and all. We’ll see if this works.”

“Isn’t Zach in Bossatron? Ambassador Barnes, I mean?”

Cry nodded slowly. “He is. Bossatronia itself, if I remember correctly. I’ll talk to him.”

\-----

“Hello, Lord Cryaotic.” Zach greeted Cry’s spell quietly. “What did you need?”

“Is Lord Barnes still alive?” Hopefully. “Nobody can get ahold of him.”

Zach let out a long breath. “He’s alive, yeah. He’s still in bad shape, though. If he’s not asleep he’s in a lot of pain. We can barely hold conversations in person, so I’m not surprised he hasn’t been able to use a communication spell.”

“How bad is it?”

“He’s got a while to go still. He hasn’t gotten any infections, fortunately, but he definitely overextended his magic with all the healing he did throughout the days of the battle. And then Pat got seriously hurt and Wade shoved every bit of energy he could into Pat to try and keep him alive. They slept for about a week straight after that -- though the healers kept drugging the two of them so they wouldn’t move around and spend energy they need for healing, so that probably helped.” Zach hesitated. “Do you know if he’s overextended himself before? Since JP, at least?”

“I hope not.” Cry glanced to his left to see Dlive in his normal place. “Hang on, I know who I can ask.”

Dlive looked up as Cry turned to him. “What do I know that you don’t?”

“Has Wade ever overextended himself before?”

Dlive nodded. “At least twice in the demon camp. Maybe a third time trying to keep Molly and Gar alive when they were poisoned, I’m not sure. Why?”

Cry swore softly. He’d known Wade had overextended himself healing JP from the plague three years before, but it was starting to become quite the habit. And that was bad. 

Zach sighed. “I’m guessing that’s a yes.”

“At least twice.” Cry started pacing, shaking his head. “Maybe a third time. All in the past two years.”

A long, long silence before Zach groaned. “Five times in four years. He’s going to break his magic at this rate.”

Cold ran up Cry’s spine. “The kingdom can’t afford that.”

“I know that.” Zach sighed. “Okay, Pat’s awake and coherent. I was talking to him just before talking to you. I’ll talk to him about this; he’s going to need to know. We have to do something about Wade’s magic.”

“Seal it.”

Another long moment of silence.

“You can’t be serious.” Zach said flatly.

“It’d work.”

“Well, yeah, but he’ll be incredibly unhappy about it.” 

“I think this counts as one of the times when duty comes before personal feelings.” Cry sighed. “We have to be prepared in case something happens to Josh.”

Zach sighed. “No, you’re right. I’ll talk to Josh and Pat. Wade’s magic will be sealed by the end of tomorrow.”

Cry sighed. “I’ll let you tell Josh, then. I’ll tell Molly.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Now how was he supposed to tell Molly that Wade's magic was probably badly injured itself, if it wasn't completely gone?


	28. Broken and Sealed

Pat let out a long breath, looking at Wade across the room -- sleeping and healing, like he was supposed to be right now. Like Pat would be doing, if a certain person hadn’t come in for a visit. Again.

“I can’t order you around, so if you don’t want to do it --” Zach stopped when Pat held up a hand. 

“No, I get it. He’s going to hate me for a long time after I do it, though.” Pat sighed. “It’s definitely necessary, I agree with you on that.” He looked at Wade for a minute longer. “Here’s the thing, though, and I didn’t realize it until you brought this up.” Pat looked at Zach. “I haven’t felt any indication of Wade’s magic since I woke up.”

Zach made a neutral expression. “I really have no idea what that means, seeing as I never actually got to experience the joy of a Protector.”

Pat snorted. “Joy? You can look at it that way if you want, but the job is more about being obnoxious and a pain in the butt than being a friend.” He looked at Wade again. “Though you usually end up being both.”

Zach smiled briefly, glancing at Wade, but then returned his gaze to Pat. “No, really, what does that mean.”

Pat frowned. “I’ll have to touch him to know for sure. But it’s probably not good.” Pat wrapped an arm around the only-partially-healed gaping hole in his side (which had not only been bandaged after Wade’s healing magic, but was also stitched -- Pat wasn’t looking forward to the time when the stitches would have to come out) and pushed himself towards the edge of his borrowed bed.

“Don’t move.” Zach sighed. “You’ll only hurt yourself.”

“I’ve got to touch him to know for sure.” Pat protested, even as he leaned against his pillows. His entire body was shaking just from that short period of exertion. Definitely a sign he shouldn’t be trying to move, much less walk across the room to Wade’s bed.

Zach paused for a minute, then sighed. “I’ll help you over.”

“What, are you going to pick me up?” Pat sat up again, pain screaming up and down his side.

In response, Zach slid one arm under Pat’s legs and the other behind his back and picked him up.

“My hero.” Pat rolled his eyes.

Zach flashed a grin, but then returned his attention to the move across the room. It was short, fortunately, and then Pat was gingerly settling next to Wade, holding his side tightly. His other injuries hurt, too, but this one was the worst. Probably because it was on such a bendy part of the body. Hopefully he hadn’t torn out some of the stitches.

“I’ll get a healer.” Zach said, softly so as not to wake Wade.

Pat shook his head. “Hang on. I’m going to need help sealing his magic.” He, too, was speaking softly, but that was his default volume at the moment. Speaking any sort of normal volume hurt too much.

“Are we still doing that?”

“Probably.” Pat glanced at Zach before looking at Wade.

Wade had one hand over the covers, so Pat grabbed that and closed his eyes so he could concentrate better. Instantly, he was very aware of the soft presence of Wade’s life force. Damaged, of course, after Wade’s injuries and overextending himself yet again. Weak. But there.

As tempting as it was to slide some of his own energy over, Pat instead turned his attention to looking for the presence of Wade’s magic. He could tell it was there, somewhere, since just interacting with Wade like this was making him feel sleepy, but where? Normally, it was intertwined with Wade’s life force.

It took Pat a minute to realize what had happened, and he frowned.

Was this when the secret came out? They’d been keeping it for a decade, but Pat had really been hoping it would stay a secret for pretty much forever.

Pat opened his eyes again, making sure he had his neutral face on. “Okay, I changed my mind. Go grab a healer. My side is making it impossible to concentrate.”

Zach nodded and moved away. 

Hopefully the task of finding an available healer at this time of night would keep Zach busy for at least half an hour. Not great, but long enough. And hopefully not too long.

As soon as Zach’s footsteps had completely faded, Pat shook Wade’s shoulder gently.

Wade jerked awake, gasping slightly. “What’s going on?” Wade moved as if to get up, then paused. “Pat? Why...?” Clearly, he had sensed Pat’s life force sitting next to his own.

“Your magic.” Pat sighed.

Wade’s expression became confused, even as something started stirring alongside Wade’s life force. Wade’s magic.

Well, the pieces of it. All seven of them were wiggling.

Wade swore softly.

“I haven’t told Zach -- or anyone.” Pat said. “But he’s been talking to people back home. He knows how much you’ve overextended yourself these past couple of years.”

Wade swore again. “He’s going to think that’s what broke my magic.”

“They already want me to seal your magic so it can’t break.”

“Of course. They don’t know.” Wade sighed. “Should we keep keeping it a secret?”

“You’ll be kicked out of the nobility. It’ll crash morale all over the kingdom, and it might raise doubts about Josh. And Molly would definitely have to marry Cry.” Pat shook his head. “We’ll just have to patch it again.”

“You’re shaking just sitting there.” Wade frowned. “Let’s not kill you.”

Pat sighed. “What are we supposed to do?”

Wade stroked his beard for a minute. “Pretend to seal my magic. That way, when you’re better, you can still get in to patch it.”

“Jack will know.” 

“Jack’s known for a decade. He’s kept the secret so far. He’s not going to stop keeping it now.”

“You won’t be able to use your magic.” Pat reminded gently. “Or they’ll know we faked it, and they’ll figure out something bad is going on.”

Wade grimaced. “I know. It’s the price for dealing with this, unfortunately. Do you know how long they want it sealed for?”

Pat shook his head. “Until they’re sure it’s healed.”

Wade sighed. “Until it’s patched, then. Who’s going to help you?”

“Zach. He’s not going to have the experience with a Protector bond to be able to tell we’re faking it.”

Wade sighed, but nodded.

Pat wrapped his arm over his side again, trying to get it to stop hurting. “You should probably go back to sleep. Zach doesn’t know I woke you.”

“You’ve got your consciousness just sitting next to mine.” Wade raised his eyebrows. “I can feel your side hurting just as much as you can. How do you sleep?”

“Usually with a good dose of sleeping draught.” Pat let his head drop so both he and Wade were completely flat against the bed. “It helps to know you’re safe.” Really, after all the times Wade had gotten hurt with Pat not there, it was understandable.

“I’m right here.” Wade assured. “I’m not going anywhere.” 

Pat nodded slightly, grimacing again as pain shot through his side. A lot of pain.

“Stop moving.” Wade complained. “I can feel that.”

“Shut up and go sleep.” Pat muttered.

“Not until your side feels at least a little bit better.”

“I’m not bleeding inside anymore.” Pat pointed out. “That made a big difference.”

“Good. But you’re not going to heal unless you can sleep.” 

Pat just grunted softly, staring at the ceiling -- which was a soft green stone. Most everything was some shade of green in the palace, with blue and various other accent colors to keep it from getting boring. “Isn’t this the room we stayed in last time we were here?”

Wade didn’t say anything, but Pat could feel him nod.

“Does Jack still sleep in the next room over?”

Wade shifted, then propped himself up on his elbow and pulled his hand from Pat’s. “Did all this moving around tear the stitches?”

“Yep.”

Wade cursed, reaching over Pat to put his hand on Pat’s side, where blood was now starting to ooze through the bandages and his shirt. 

“I got to admit,” Pat wasn’t sure why he was continuing to talk through the pain, “if by the end of this, we can get Gar back, he’s definitely going to be the best Protector out of all of us. Though I get the feeling he may want to avoid fighting if he can.”

With Wade touching him, he could feel Wade’s magic stirring once again. “Don’t bother. You won’t be able to do much in your current state. I sent Zach for a healer before I even woke you.” Pat sighed.

“You’re bleeding a lot, Pat. We don’t have time to wait for a healer to show up.” The pieces of Wade’s magic twisted a little, then sort of came together. 

“Wade.” Pat did his best to give Wade a flat look. “No. Healing me right now will only hurt you.”

“I know.” Wade assured. “I’m getting Jack’s attention.” He said something else, but Pat couldn’t concentrate on what it was.

In fact, the only things he could concentrate on was the wetness of blood on his skin as his bandage and shirt absorbed it, and Wade’s rapidly rising levels of anxiety.

Then even those faded.

\-----

Pat woke in incredibly large amounts of pain. 

“Good.” a soft voice murmured. “He’s awake.”

“That means you should relax, Wadey.” Jack’s voice said.

Pat looked around casually. He was still in the room, fortunately. In fact, he seemed to be on his own bed, though it seemed he was propped in a sitting position by pillows this time. Probably a good move.

“You were supposed to wait for Zach to get back to seal Wade’s magic.” Jack continued, sitting at the foot of the bed. “If I’d known it needed to be sealed, I would have helped you do it.” He was running his fingers over the edge of his crown, almost absently.

The healer glanced up from tying off a fresh set of bandages around Pat, but didn’t say anything.

“He was starting to wake up. I didn’t want to make it more painful than it needed to be.” The lie came smoothly -- much more smoothly than it would have if Jack wasn’t in on the secret. One didn’t simply lie to a king if you could help it. Lying alongside a king was much more approved, though.

“He’s barely slept in the day since, so I don’t think that worked out the way it was supposed to.” Jack looked at the healer. “When you’re finished, I need to speak with them alone.”

The healer nodded. “Almost there, your highness.” They pulled out a small bottle and tapped three drops of a thick liquid into a cup before handing the cup to Pat. “I recommend drinking it quickly. It’s not going to taste good.” 

Pat complied, trying incredibly hard to not think about the taste. Or to taste it at all. Was that possible?

Apparently not, seeing as he nearly didn’t get it all down.

“You’ll have about fifteen minutes before he falls asleep, your highness.” The healer gave a small bow in Jack’s direction. “I’ll be back to check on him in an hour.”

Jack dipped his head. “Thank you.”

The healer nodded and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Jack instantly went from looking regal to looking downright annoyed, setting his crown in his lap and crossing his arms. “Wade. How long has your magic been broken again?”

From the other bed in the room, Wade shrugged, then winced. “I don’t know. I didn’t even realize the patch had broken until Pat pointed it out yesterday.”

Jack turned to Pat.

“Probably when he was trying to heal me after the Demon Prince.” Pat settled more comfortably into his pillows. Well, they weren’t exactly  _ his  _ pillows, but it was the same general idea. “Or during the healing he did during the battle. Anytime sooner, I would have noticed.”

Jack groaned and buried his face in his hands for a minute, then looked up and sighed. “What am I supposed to do? I almost had to lie to an ambassador about what was going on and say you’d sealed Wade’s magic, until he did it for me. If word gets out --”

“It won’t.” Pat said simply. “He’s not even going to touch his magic for the next while -- which is going to be absolutely brutal for him, and there’s really not a lot I can do to fix that -- and once I’m recovered enough I’m going to patch it again.”

“If I remember correctly, the last time this happened, Wade couldn’t use his magic for nearly a month after anyways.” Jack tapped his fingers on his crown.

“You do remember correctly.” Pat dipped his head. “The process involves a temporary sealing. Hopefully, this patch lasts more than ten years. Or, if that doesn’t happen, through the end of the war.”

Wade nodded. “That’s the ideal.”

“The ideal is your magic never having broken in the first place.” Jack sighed, picking up his crown. “But we’ve been past that for a long time. Do what you need to do. You’ll have as much protection as I can offer within these walls for as long as I can offer it.” Jack stood, placing his crown on his head once again. “But you realize, you’ve been lying to an entire kingdom -- an entire continent -- for over a decade. Sooner or later, this is all going to come out. What are you going to do when it does?” Jack shook his head. “I’m going to bed. I’ve dealt with enough today.” 

With that, he walked out.

Pat had never been more aware of the weight of his medallion.


	29. The Third Prophecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter!

They were sitting in the library of Aevor, waiting for Dan and Nate to get back. JP was making numerous small lights and sending them zooming around the sitting area, looking incredibly proud of himself.

Brycelyn smiled whenever one got close, but was spending most of her time staring out the stained glass window, even as the soft crackle of the fire in the nearby fireplace created soft ambience. The design in the window seemed to have the same style as the ones in the palace in Suzerain, which was peculiar. Sure, they were next to each other, but so were Suzerain and the Realms, and they didn’t have similar styles for stained glass. The Realms seemed to prefer cooler colors, and Suzerain and Avalier warmer. 

“They’ve been talking for a while.” JP slouched in the chair some, looking over to where Dan and Nate were speaking. 

Brycelyn followed his gaze, remaining silent. Dan didn’t seem to be liking whatever Nate was saying -- crossing and uncrossing his arms, frowning and frowning more, glancing at JP and Brycelyn from time to time.

“Nate’s probably updating him on what happened while we were in Suzerain.” Brycelyn said simply, returning her gaze to the window. Snow was falling gently outside -- three inches had piled up on the windowsill in the past hour, so it was falling heavily too. 

“I wonder why they brought us here.” JP pulled his new cloak around him and shifted positions uncomfortably. “I thought they were going to make us stay inside the Pentland estate all winter.”

“Your leg is broken.” Brycelyn pointed out. “I’m surprised they even let you move around on crutches.”

JP shrugged, glancing at the crutches propped against the arm of the chair. “It’s a miracle.” Then he looked at Tapestry, propped up against the arm of the chair Brycelyn was in. “I’m surprised they let people bring weapons in here.”

“I doubt they have anywhere to store them while people are here researching.” Brycelyn looked out the window again. “How are we going to get back at this rate?”

“Back to the estate? Or back home?”

“Either. Both.” Brycelyn sighed, pulling her own cloak tighter around her. “Home. I’m sure there’s someone here assigned to clearing the streets.”

JP  _ hmmm _ -ed. “Well, we’ll get to go to Armir at some point, I’m sure. Then across the ocean. Probably to the Third Realm, but Dan might take us to the Seventh. I doubt he’ll take us to the Fourth.” 

Right. The fighting was fully inside the Fourth Realm right now, and the plague was back in Septimal. But who knew how things would be going in spring?

“There’s a moon event coming up before the end of winter, isn’t there?” JP asked suddenly.

Brycelyn nodded. “A month and a half from now.”

JP nodded slightly, expression going distant.

“What’s on your mind?” Brycelyn prodded gently. 

JP’s gaze drifted to the snow falling outside. “A year ago I was stuck in the demon camp. I was pretty sure I was going to die there -- most of my bones were broken, after an encounter with the Destroyer -- and all I could really focus on was the snow. It looked so soft, even though I knew it wouldn’t do me any good.” 

He’d never talked about the demon camp before, at least not like this, so Brycelyn fixed her attention on him and listened.

“I’m honestly surprised by how much this winter is like last winter.” JP leaned on one arm of the chair, the distant expression still in his eyes. “Molly’s trying desperately to keep things under control. Gar is doing what little he can without being torn apart by the other demons. Wade’s badly injured. So am I. I just got a haircut, though, so that's different.” This last one was said with a bit of amusement in his voice, even as JP ran a hand through his hair.

“I could have taught you how to braid it.” Brycelyn smiled some.

JP rolled his eyes, but smiled. “Or I could just keep cutting it.”

Dan and Nate walked up behind JP, and Brycelyn glanced at them. By now, hopefully JP knew that as a sign that someone was there.

“I’m not convinced, Nate.” Dan shook his head, looking at the two younger nobles. “I’m really not.”

“You know the prophecies as well as I do.” Nate shook his head. He still looked tired, almost exhausted, but the week of rest Dan had forced on them had done good.

Dan muttered a curse. “I’ve never believed them. Not once have I ever even considered they might be true.”

Nate raised his eyebrows, then pointed to JP. “Demon camp.” Then he pointed to Brycelyn. “Sword. Arranged marriage.”

Dan groaned and put his head in his hands. “I’m still convinced this is a load of coincidences. Nothing more.”

Nate shook his head. “I’ll find a copy. You update them on what’s going on.”

Dan sighed, but walked and sat on a table, seeming surprised when it didn’t tip over. 

“Snow said something about prophecies.” JP said quietly, looking at Dan. “Is that what this is about?”

Dan grabbed the edges of his cloak and crossed his arms still holding them, making a grumpy Dan roll. “I’m honestly not sure how much I believe you encountered the undead Protector of the Demon Prince -- who has been working for almost 1000 years to fix something he did to protect the Realms that’s killing it. It really just doesn’t sound like something that could actually happen.” Dan shook his head.

When Dan said it like that, it did sound a little ridiculous.

“But, something is definitely going on with Realms magic, and this would conveniently explain all of it.” Dan sighed. “So I’m going along with it for now.” Dan stood, glanced at the fire as if considering walking over next to it, then looked at his cloak, raised an eyebrow, and walked to an empty chair. “Long story short, within a year of the Empire fully taking over this part of the world, rumors started going about. Some of the dragons in the north, ones that could foresee, were saying things. I’m not sure if the dragons put it to poetry and rhythm, but somebody did.”

“Fire and Light.” JP said.

Dan looked up. “That’s the name of the second one, yes. The first is called ‘A Lord’s Strength,’ and the third is, rather disturbingly, named ‘Failing Magic.’” Dan raised an eyebrow. “Have you heard of them?”

JP explained the small amount Nate had explained earlier. “It’s not a lot.”

“No, no it’s not.” Dan glanced behind JP, and Brycelyn followed his gaze to see Nate carrying a scroll. “That didn’t take long.”

“It was still where I put it.” Nate shrugged. “Apparently nobody went looking for it in fifteen years.”

“Apparently.” Dan gestured to the table between Brycelyn and JP. “Go ahead, then.”

“So the problem with this one is that it’s missing the second half of the third one.” Nate began to unroll the scroll on the table. “But it does have the complete first and second ones.”

“Why is it missing half the third one?” Dan asked. 

Nate shook his head. “Someone spilled something on it and tried to clean it up with soapy water or something. Made all of the ink run.”

Dan muttered something about proper care for documents.

Nate ignored Dan muttering something.

The two seemed familiar with each other, almost comfortable around and complaining to each other about various things. And they seemed to trust each other enough to collaborate on whatever this was.

Brycelyn thought about that as Nate kept scrolling through the scroll. What kind of relationship did the two have? When did they even meet? Obviously while Dan was still in Avalier -- Nate had said this was the first time he was back in fifteen years. But what would have made the two of them meet? Dan was a noble here, too, and he was even younger than Brycelyn when he’d come to the Realms. He wouldn’t have had a lot of opportunity to interact with people that weren’t nobles.

Brycelyn dropped her arm over the arm of the chair, letting her fingers brush Tapestry’s hilt. It was the first time she’d touched the sword with the purpose of seeing the magic in the area.

Most immediately interesting was that while Suzerain had had a pale, sickly yellow for the magic of its lands, Avalier had a deep, rich gold, just like the color that identified Nate’s magic. Why was his magic the exact color of the ...

...oh.

That was how he knew Dan.

Pushing the thought aside for moment, Brycelyn turned her attention to Dan. If Realms magic was blue, and Avalier and Suzerain gold, and he was compatible with both, then what did his magic look like?

Dan’s magic was iridescent -- sometimes it shimmered blue, sometimes it was sort of bronze, almost like someone had woven metal thread into a blue cloth. Something told her that it used to be the opposite way -- that Dan had grown up with blue threads woven into a metallic cloth, and that his time in the Realms had changed it.

That was an interesting thought.

“Here’s the passage I was looking for.” Nate said, causing Brycelyn to let go of Tapestry. He glanced up. “Want to read it?”

Dan made a gesture. “No thanks, I’ll probably somehow completely destroy the thing.”

Nate shrugged and looked back at the scroll. “I can read it.”

Brycelyn settled her hands in her lap, trying to replicate her lessons on how to appear calm even when you weren’t. She’d gotten a lot of mileage out of those lessons already, and she wasn’t even 20 yet.

 

“Born to expectations,

“Born to a life of light,

“Raised to perform duty,

“To weave, to scorch, for flight.

 

“Born in the shadows,

“Away from most sight, 

“Unqualified to most,

“To bring them all light.

 

“With cleansing of fire,

“With brightness of light,

“Focus, desire, and strength,

“Hand in hand, unseen sight.”

 

Dan glanced at Brycelyn, then JP, as Nate read, then seemed to come to some sort of conclusion in the third stanza. “Alright, Nate, you've made your point. What was it from the third one you wanted to read?”

Nate scrolled some more, giving Brycelyn precious moments to think. Clearly, she was missing some kind of information. It couldn’t be that those stanzas were describing her and JP...could it? They did seem to describe their childhood situations fairly well, but that easily could be a coincidence.

Hypothetically.

“Here.” Nate stopped again, then gestured Dan over. “I’m making you read this one.”

Dan rolled his eyes, but complied. (Though, he didn’t even touch the table, much less the scroll.)

 

“Who began with the Empire will rise,

“Those older, who have magic stole-en,

“To drink and destroy the energy,

“By sacrificing one who is whole.”

 

Dan made a face. “Okay, ominous as literally anything I’ve ever seen.” He paused. “Hang on. This is vaguely familiar.”

“It sounds a lot like the translation.” Brycelyn said simply. “The one found in the closed-off stairwell.”

Dan nodded. “Exactly.” He frowned, then stood and stared at the paper for a minute. “Well, MatPat needs to work on his translation skills.”

“I don’t think he had any translated works to help him. He had to work his way through it manually.” Brycelyn pointed out.

“True. More than I would have gotten done.” Dan shrugged, then stood still and looked thoughtful for another few minutes. Then he sighed. “Nate, it’s so much. They’re so young.”

“The rest of us have responsibilities we can’t avoid. They’re the only ones available. And they’re literally described by the second song.”

Dan groaned, putting his chin on his fist. “Don’t they get a childhood?”

“They’re almost twenty.” Nate pointed out. “You were married by that point in time.”

“I didn’t have this kind of responsibility.” Dan shook his head. “It’s really not the same at all.”

Nate sort of half-shrugged. “I can’t do anything about it, Dan.”

Dan sighed again, then looked over at  Brycelyn, then Tapestry still propped up against her chair, then JP, before returning his gaze to Nate. “It’s still their decision to make.”

Nate dipped his head. “They’ll make the right choice.”

“And what is the right choice, in this circumstance?”

“I don’t know.” Nate began rolling up the scroll again. “We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”


	30. Friends Reunited

Traveling in winter was miserable under normal circumstances. Traveling through mountains was dangerous in normal circumstances. Traveling through mountains in winter was both incredibly dangerous and incredibly miserable.

“How long until Septimal?” Cry looked at Dlive. After all, Dlive was the only guard Cry could in good conscience bring. The others had been sent home to their families a few weeks before.

“Another few hours.” Dlive huddled into his cloak more. “There's a river crossing, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if the bridge was blocked off.”

“I'm not forcing horses through water in this cold.”

Dlive thought for a minute. “Entoan and I found a back way a few years ago. It might still be there.”

Cry just gestured for Dlive to lead.

Honestly, taking the horses through the snow probably wasn’t the best thing for them, and he and Dlive would have to stop soon and give the horses a break. Snow wasn’t fun for anyone, and it was probably even less fun when you had to carry an adult human and their (deliberately lightened) armor and supplies. The third horse, whose entire job was being a pack horse, likely wasn’t much better.

Cry was very glad he wasn’t a horse.

Two hours later, he and Dlive were inside a copse of trees next to the east wall of the fortress wall, making sure the horses were okay. The back way mentioned, as it turned out, was close to a somehow-unfrozen waterfall, spraying everyone and everything with a very cold very fine mist.

“They need rest, but they'll be okay with a fifteen minute break.” Dlive patted his horse softly. 

“They’ve done a lot today.” Cry smiled at the horses, not that they could see it.

Dlive nodded. “So, if nobody is at the fortress gate to let us in, which there might not be, there’s a door that leads to a mini courtyard that nobody uses. It was really overgrown when Pat found it. I'm not sure most people remember it exists, especially with most of the staff having changed out with the switch between Havendal and Wade.”

“So it probably isn't locked.”

“Right. And even on a full patrol, the guard only walks along the wall there every ten minutes or so.”

Cry nodded. “Let's try it if we need to, then.”

It would definitely strange to be sneaking into a place where he would normally be welcomed with open arms. At least he and Dlive were unlikely to run into anyone at this point. They'd been avoiding people for the past week to make sure they weren't sick by the time they arrived in Septimal. Though, with Molly's quarantine policy, it was fairly unlikely they would encounter someone infected with the plague.

Hopefully.

Cry wasn’t entirely sure, but he mostly sure, that if the plague now was the same one that had come three years ago, then he would be immune to it. He’d survived getting infected with the first one, and he hadn’t gotten sick again when interacting with others that had gotten the first one, so it made some sort of sense.

He didn’t know about Dlive, though, and he was currently responsible for Dlive’s well-being. Which is why they had been avoiding people as much as possible so far.

“It’s half an hour to the gates of Septimal now.” Dlive took his horse’s reins in hand and started walking back towards the main road. “We’ll probably have to get someone to open the city gates for us -- I don’t think they’ll just be keeping them open with the quarantine going on and all.”

“I’ll give Molly a poke.” Cry said. “See if she’s able to do anything about that.”

“I hope so. I really don’t want to have to try and talk my way into the city.”

Cry’s horse shifted unhappily as they got closer to the wall. It could probably smell the smoke rising from the far end of the city -- Molly was burning bodies.

\-----

Cry and Dlive were directed to a small side gate, where some kid that looked too young to be on the guard or have the keys to the gate let them in.

“The fortress is open, but there are super strict rules about going in and out right now.” The kid explained, still holding onto the key. “And not a lot of people will be there.”

“They’ll let us in.” Dlive assured the kid. “Where’d you get that key?”

“Entoan. He was busy dealing with someone causing a problem of some kind, so he had me run down here to let you in.” The kid grinned widely, showing a few missing teeth. He couldn’t have been older than seven or eight.

“Thanks, kid.” Cry said. Why would Entoan give such a big responsibility to a little kid? Were there no other options?

The kid looked up at Cry, and his eyes went wide. “Woah. You’ve got a cool mask.” Then his eyes went wider, and he looked at Dlive, then back at Cry. “Wait, does that mean you’re Lord Cryaotic?”

Cry dipped his head. “Indeed I am.”

A huge grin split across the kid’s face. “That’s so cool.” He held out the key. “I should probably give this to you then. I don’t think I’m supposed to keep it, but I don’t want to go back to the fortress. It’s boring there.”

Cry smiled slightly, and took the key. “Being an adult is like that sometimes.”

The kid made a face. “Ew.” With that, he walked off.

“Should we ask him where he’s going?” Dlive asked.

“He’s already gone.” Cry shook his head as the kid turned the corner. “How do we get to the fortress from here?”

“Oh, that’s easy. It’s the tallest building in the city. Just look for bland stone towers and you’ve found it.” Dlive started leading his horse down the road.

\-----

“And what if they’re infected?”

Cry closed his eyes for a moment, sighing. They’d gotten to the fortress easily enough, but the guards there had stopped them at the entrance. There was no way they could be mistaken for anyone else, but now they had to deal with this.

He really wanted to get out of the snow. He’d been in the snow for over a month straight. At this point, there was just under over month until the blood blue moon, and he needed to figure what he could do in a Realm that wasn’t his.

“DLIVE!” 

Entoan’s shout was the only warning they had before Entoan absolutely slammed into Dlive, knocking him into the snowbank, raw delight running through his voice and a broad grin spreading across his face.

Dlive swore. “Get off.”

Entoan’s response was laughter, but he did get up and offered a hand to Dlive.

“They’re clear, I promise.” Entoan said. “They’ve been traveling through the mountains for the past while. If they were infected, they’d be dead by now.”

The guard nodded, stepping aside to let them in.

Almost instantly, Dlive and Entoan were talking, catching up the months they’d been apart, almost talking over each other in their excitement to be reunited. It wasn’t surprising -- Dlive had told Cry that Dlive and Entoan had been sailors together for six or so years before the demon camp had happened. Of course they would want to look out for each other after that long being friends.

Cry turned his attention to the courtyard as they walked, letting the two guards talk. As was expected for winter, there wasn’t a lot growing. Most of the ground was blanketed in white, with the exception of where someone had ventured off the cleared pathways into the snow. Judging by the human-shaped hole nearby, someone had also fallen into a snowbank fairly recently. Hopefully they hadn’t gotten hypothermia.

“Half guard and double shifts? Now? How haven’t you had riots?” Dlive’s voice broke across Cry’s meandering thoughts. 

“We don’t have a choice.” Entoan replied, shaking his head. “With the war, we’ve got to keep a full guard on patrol around the city, and this was the only way to do that. It wouldn’t be nearly so bad if the plague was gone, but it’s not yet. It’s been dying out, a bit, which is why the fortress is open right now, but it’s still definitely going around. Molly keeps being worried about what will happen if she has to evacuate the city.”

Why would Molly feel the need to evacuate the city? Suzerain hadn’t been attacking coastlines this far north -- they probably didn’t want to risk getting involved with the Land of the Squirrels (because while Mark wasn’t required to offer the Realms military aid during war, since they didn’t have a current treaty, he would likely assume attacking ships could easily raid his coasts as well and take steps to prevent it).

“Is she expecting something to happen?” Dlive asked as they came to the stables.

Entoan shrugged, glancing at the stablehand quietly waiting at attention. “We’re at war. It’s a lot safer to expect something to happen than to not.”

With the horses delivered, and the stablehand promising to make sure everything made its way to where Cry would be sleeping  -- wherever that was, Entoan led them inside. Instantly, it was warmer, though Cry couldn’t help but notice that this fortress seemed to have as many random drafts and chills as the one back home.

“Lord Cryaotic, I’m sure you’ll want to speak with her.” Entoan said, pulling Cry’s attention from a particularly beautiful tapestry taking up a large part of the wall -- it seemed to depict a battle of some kind, with demons and people in armor and people looking like they were barely holding onto life.

Dlive glanced at the tapestry, then stopped and really looked at it. “Hey. I know what this is.”

“It just got put up yesterday.” Entoan said, stopping as well. “Molly didn’t want it in the main halls, where she would see it all the time.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“It is.” Entoan agreed. “The memories aren’t, though.”

Cry looked at the tapestry again. This must be the battle that ended the demon camp, or at least a part of it. He’d heard the story a few times now, once from Wade, once from JP, and once from Dlive, but he was only now beginning to understand just how awful it had been. The ground was red with blood, and bodies lay all over -- most of those were of the people who looked like they were barely holding on to life in the first place.

Most of the figures were strangers to him, not terribly surprising considering this wasn’t his Realm. But he could easily identify a few. Mark, Dlive, and someone that must have been Bob, fighting the Destroyer, while Entoan was crouched next to an unconscious JP just a few threads away. Jack and MatPat and Jason in the thick of battle. Pat, in a cave near the top, kneeling next to an also unconscious Wade, with the commonly-used lines depicting magic radiating from both of them. And, most peculiarly, in the top corner, Molly sitting on a rock, eyes closed, and Gar facing down the Bloody all alone. Gar wasn’t in a demon form, though Cry now knew Gar had been the demon in charge of Wade and Molly and Entoan and Dlive and JP, and Cry stared at it for a minute, trying to remember what part of the story correlated with this depiction.

Molly performing the protection spells for the first time. When nobody knew she had great magic.

If Gar had really wanted to have any sort of power or cause any sort of chaos, then he simply would have let the Bloody kill Molly then. Or killed her himself. Defending her did nothing but help the humans and harm demons. 

Some had argued that Gar had only protected Molly because he was her Protector by that point, and it was a valid concern, but Gar had not only volunteered himself to be Molly’s Protector, but did the bindings himself. And apparently the bindings were legitimate, because Ohm was able to sense they existed.

How had Gar done correct Protector bindings with both him and Molly being noticeably older than 16? Without the medallion? Was that possible? 

Well, clearly it was possible. Gar had done it. But how? And was it possible to replicate the results? The kid Phil had found -- Dil -- and the girl Dan had found out in Aevor, Tabitha her name was. By the time someone could get trained for them, they would both be older than 16.

“Let’s not keep Molly waiting.” Cry decided he could look at the tapestry later. “Where is she?”

“Waiting for you.” Entoan said. “She wanted to talk to you. I think it’s about Gar.”


	31. Fake It 'Til You Make It

Molly didn’t know what she was doing.

She certainly looked like it. If she’d learned anything from the lessons Wade had given her while they traveled to Primus for the wedding, it was how to fake looking like she knew what she was doing. But, truth was, she didn’t. She had no idea how to run a Realm, even with what she’d learned watching Wade.

It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if the plague wasn’t here, she decided, forcing herself to sit down and stop pacing already. The basics of running a Realm weren’t that different from the basics of running a house, and she’d learned how to do that years ago. Except a household was a lot smaller than a Realm -- maybe ten people instead of some 40,000. She was counting the soldiers that were out fighting in that number, of course. They still needed support and help -- they needed supplies and healers and everything. So even though they were somewhere else, she was still responsible for them.

“Bob’s recovering.” Nin dropped next to Molly on the couch, flopping a bit more than was acceptable for a lady’s maid. “It’ll be a while before he can come back to work, but he’s not dying.”

Molly sighed in relief. Mandy had come out of the worst of the plague the day before. Having the two of them back would make her life so much easier. “What about Marie?”

Nin shook her head. “She’s alive, at least she was when a healer checked on her this morning, but she’s still definitely under quarantine.” She sighed. “I would go crazy if you had to lock me in my room for three weeks. I don’t know how she’s doing it.”

“Her and Pat’s room is a bit more decorated than yours. They’ve had a while to get it set up the way they want it.” Molly absently started playing with her pendant again. “I imagine that makes it easier.”

“I’m sure having a space that doesn’t look like a modified dungeon does make it more tolerable.” Nin slouched into the cushions. “I wouldn’t really know, though.”

“I’m sure there’s a dungeon somewhere around here. I could stick you in it for a day or so to see how you felt about it.”

Nin sighed. “If you want.”

“Why do I keep walking in on things like this?” Entoan complained, walking into view. “I mean, if Nin wants to be in a dungeon, that’s not my place to say anything, but just go already.”

“But then she wouldn’t be able to complain.” Dlive pointed out.

Dlive. 

Molly looked up, at the doorway where Dlive was standing, a familiar masked figure trailing a few feet behind.

“You haven’t seen me in months and that’s the first thing you say?” Nin crossed her arms. “Wow.”

“Aren’t maids supposed to be neither seen nor heard?” Dlive asked, though not meanly.

“If anyone is supposed to do that, it’s guards.” Nin replied in a monotone voice that could have gone either way.

Dlive paused, just looking at her, and Entoan laughed lightly. “Don’t mess with Nin. She always has something to say.”

Dlive, by this point, had fully come into the room, and Cry had drifted to standing in the doorframe, one hand tracing the woodwork as he looked at it. He wasn’t saying anything, and seemed content to wait until Molly greeted him to do anything.

As Cry looked at the carvings higher on the doorframe, Molly got a glimpse of silvery scars running across the bottom of his chin. 

Probably best not to say anything about it, considering scars were almost certainly the reason he wore his mask. 

Molly stood quietly, letting the others continue to banter and laugh. Cheerfulness and amusement were things she hadn’t really heard lately, and she didn’t really want to end it until she had to.

Cry dropped his hand from the frame, allowing his heavy winter cloak to once again hide his arm. It was strange -- Molly had never seen him without a cloak, though she’d heard he hadn’t been wearing one in the fight with the Destroyer. He seemed to want to hide all the time, and his mask and his cloak offered him protection from the outside world, from people’s curious gazes.

“Welcome to Septimal, Lord Cryaotic.” Molly walked up to him, curtseying slightly. Not too much, because he was only slightly higher ranked than her, as she was Acting Lady, but enough.

It had taken hours of practice with Nin to learn how to do all the proper genuflections.

Cry dipped his head. “I’m glad to see you’re well, Heiress.” He spoke softly, as if he was unsure of what he was doing. Or maybe that was the only way he spoke. Molly had certainly never heard him speak loudly. Maybe he had never had the need to speak loudly around her. That was possible too.

Molly was still learning how to read people. Nin was extremely good at it, but she had a job that was a lot easier if she could figure out someone’s needs before they said anything, so that wasn’t surprising.

...now what did she say?

Molly hesitated, then sighed. “Okay, look, I still have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Oh, neither do I.” Cry replied. “Well, I have some idea, since I got training, but putting theory into practice is a lot harder than it seems it should be.”

Molly smiled a bit. “Yeah, I didn’t even get a lot of training.”

“You’ve been doing well.” Cry congratulated. 

Molly’s smile grew. “Are you saying that because it’s customary to exchange compliments or because you’re serious?”

“Both.” Cry tilted his head a bit. “Though, between you and me, I never much cared for the customary exchanges between nobility. It’s a lot to remember.”

Molly nodded. “I’ve been trying to learn it all. I don’t think I ever will.”

“You’ll get there.”

“We’re assuming I survive this all.”

“Oh, I’m hoping we both survive to the end of this.”

“So why did Josh send you here?” Molly asked.

“He didn’t really bother to explain.” Cry shrugged slightly. “I can try to reason my way through it, if you want.”

Molly nodded, glancing at everyone behind her. “You know what, let’s let them catch up with each other. I’ll show you around the fortress, and we can talk.”

Cry dipped his head, allowing Molly to begin walking.

“Honestly, when Josh first told me you were coming, and what would happen if Wade was dead, I was upset.” Upset was the calmest way to describe the range of emotions Molly had felt that night.

“I was terrified when I couldn’t contact him.” Cry said. “I don’t particularly want to marry you.” A pause. “No offense meant, I’m just already happy in a relationship.”

Molly nodded. “Right. You’re courting Cheyenne from the Second Realm.” A pause. “And I felt the same about it.”

Cry glanced around the great hall as Molly took them into it. Wade’s sigil was still hanging on the banners all around, with his solitary chair for when he held court. He’d been having one made so she could join him after their wedding, but now that that was delayed indefinitely, and he was in a different kingdom recovering from wounds that had nearly killed him, Molly just used his chair. Well, she would if she was still holding court. It was a health hazard at this point in time.

“Have you heard from Wade recently?”

Molly shook her head. “Jack talked to me. Pat had to seal Wade’s magic, so Wade can’t use any magic right now.”

“That’s got to be rough on both of you.” 

Molly nodded, ignoring the wisp of hair that fell out of her braids and into her face. “It’s certainly not ideal. Apparently it’s going to be spring sometime before Pat’s even going to consider lifting the seal. I have no idea how that works, and barely what it means.” Hopefully Cry would tell her.

“Protectors do more than just physically protect us.” Cry sighed. “They’re there to keep us safe physically, like any other guard, but mentally and magically as well. They’re advisors when the going gets tough, or a shoulder to cry on, or just someone you know you can count on so you’ll never be standing alone.” Cry’s voice caught. “The reason they have to be bound to us is because of the magical protection part. They can seal magic, so it can heal if it’s hurting, like a cast on a broken bone. They can give us some of their own life energy to keep us from dying if it’s gotten that far. There’s a specific spell called a ‘recall,’ and it’s only ever used if a noble has died.”

“Don’t Protectors die when their noble dies?”

“It takes a few minutes.” Cry sighed, looking at the floor.

Molly frowned. “What does this spell do?” Did she want to know?

“If a noble has died, and their Protector hasn't yet, the Protector has the ability to do a recall. Though I've been told the Protectors call it 'the exchange’ between themselves.”

The exchange. There were quite a few things that could mean, but none of them really made sense in the situation, unless... Unless.

“Before the last of our life energy has faded, the Protector yanks on the binding and shoves their life energy across it. It... It's a painful experience to have life energy given to you, so I imagine it's worse when you're the one doing it.” Cry looked down for a few minutes. 

“I'm guessing that kills the Protector, then.”

“On such a large scale, yeah.” Cry sighed, slowly looking up. “There are two recorded cases where both noble and Protector survived, out of the thirty or so that have successfully been recalled. Five others didn't get to the noble in time, and six more were unsuccessful, and both noble and Protector died. Of the two Protectors that survived the spell, one died a year later after catching a cold, and the other struggled to live for another five years before just collapsing one night. Apparently she was dead before she hit the floor.” Cry shuddered slightly.

“That’s a lot of responsibility to deal with.” Molly murmured, continuing to walk. There was a chair behind Wade’s chair, back to back, where Pat usually sat -- because standing completely still in one place for five or six hours was brutal. Pat could do it, but it was still brutal. Also, this made it easier for Pat to quietly mutter things like advice to Wade if he wanted (though it was usually random comments, from what Molly had heard).

She missed them. Both of them. She missed Gar, too. And JP.

“There’s a reason they get so much training for it.” Cry ran a hand through his hair. “The exception to that being Gar. I don’t know how he learned to do as many things as he does so well.” He paused.

“He’s been a demon for a long time.” Molly sighed. “He’s had a while to learn just about anything he wants to.”

“Yeah, I realized that right after I spoke.” 

“I’m guessing most nobles get more training than Protectors do.” And Molly had less than a year’s experience. Well, almost a year’s experience, now. She’d reach her one-year mark in a week. 

“Most Protectors start getting technical lessons about the binding starting when they’re first chosen, and they start physical training when they’re about ten. Nobles tend to start learning things when they’re about six, if not younger. It’s supposed to be all completed by the time you turn sixteen, when your Protector is normally bound to you, so you could be sent out to do tasks if it was needed.”

Molly sighed. “I’ve got a lot of ground to cover, then.”

“You’ve been doing fine.” Cry said. “You really have. And, really, no matter how much training you get, nothing really prepares you for being in control of an entire Realm. You just have to fake it ‘til you make it.”

“Is that professional advice?” Molly raised her eyebrows.

Cry laughed softly. “Sure, though I honestly have no idea how much we get paid for this. Something, probably.”

“Do we really need the money, with how everything works out?”

“I’ve never really needed much, but there’s something satisfying just knowing I actually get paid to put up with all of...this.” Cry made a somewhat large and unspecific gesture that seemed to apply to the entirety of the Realms and the war and missing people and everything going on that caused stress. “Though, now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m not entirely sure we  _ do _ get paid.” He paused. “I hope so.”

“We’d better.” Molly smiled.

“See what I mean? I don’t know what I’m talking about half the time.” Cry shook his head, sounding amused. “Just gotta fake it ‘til we make it.”

Molly nodded. “That sounds like a plan.”


	32. The Eastern Border

“The border guard saw hints of an army gathering a few miles from the border, and I just got word from the capital that Suzerain has officially declared that they’ll attack anyone who tries to help the Realms.” Louise said softly. “Are the kids ready for the road back to Armir?”

Dan sighed, putting his book aside. It had been so pleasant to just be able to sit and read and relax by the fire in the sitting room next to the bedrooms in the estate, but that had lasted for about an hour. “It’ll be rough on them, but they’ll manage. Has Tabitha ever ridden a horse before?”

Louise shook her head, glancing down the hallway to where everyone else was hopefully already asleep. “She’s been scared to go near them. I haven’t pushed it, since I was expecting to have more time than this.”

Dan sighed again, standing. “So was I. Alright. I’ll have Chris and the other guards get ready for travel. We can leave first thing in the morning -- I can get JP and Brycelyn and Tabitha the rest of the things they’ll need when we reach Armir. You’re staying here?”

Louise nodded. “I don’t have much of a choice. Responsibilities and all.” Louise put her hands together. “Take Darcy, though. She doesn’t need to be here, and she’s too young to see battle.”

Dan nodded. “Have you told her, yet?”

“I told her she gets to take anything she can fit in her saddlebags, so yes.” Louise took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’m ready to be here when the fighting comes, Dan. I kept hoping the fighting would never come here.”

“It might never reach the city.” Dan said, but the words felt hollow. Aevor was close to the border -- the fighting not reaching it would be almost impossible.

“We both know that’s just a dream.” Louise sighed. “Go get some sleep. It’ll be best for you to leave before dawn.”

\-----

The pre-dawn air was incredibly cold, and Dan glanced at Tabitha, standing uneasily next to his horse, trying to make sure she was warm.

“Be safe.” Louise murmured to Darcy before hugging her and sending her to get on her horse.

JP and Brycelyn glanced at each other from their horses, and JP pulled his cloak tighter around himself before setting his hand on his broken leg with a grimace. They would need to take frequent breaks to keep from damaging his leg. Though if JP ended up with a permanent limp after this, Dan wouldn't be surprised.

Louise walked over to Dan, looking concerned as her daughter pulled up next to Brycelyn.

“Take her with you to the Realms. Send her as far away from the fighting as you can.” Louise glanced at Darcy.

Dan let out a long breath. “Alright. She’ll stay safe.”

Louise nodded, giving Dan a hug. “Take care. When this is all over, I’ll have to meet Phil. He sounds wonderful.”

Dan hugged her back. “I’m sure he’ll love that.” Even though that would mean forcing Phil on the ocean for a month, twice, to see Louise, without Dan. Someone had to stay in Triol to manage things. Unless Dil was old enough to do it himself, but that would be a while.

Louise let go, and Dan went and pulled himself up on his horse before offering his hand to Tabitha. She took it and climbed up uneasily before settling behind him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

Dan winced slightly. “You’re going to need to loosen up. I have to be able to move without pulling you off balance.”

Tabitha’s grip loosened, just a tiny bit.

Dan resisted the temptation to sigh. She didn’t know any better. “That will work.”

“Thank you for having me, Duchess Pentland.” Tabitha said.

“Not a problem. Do me proud in the Realms.” Louise smiled at Tabitha, and then at Darcy. “Take care.”

\-----

JP was good at not complaining much, even though Dan could tell JP was in a great deal of pain from riding with a broken leg -- not the smartest idea, but not as stupid as waiting around for an army. 

“If we push on, we can get there late tonight.” Dan said at their regularly scheduled break. “Or we can arrive early tomorrow. Which do you prefer?”

“I’ll do whatever.” JP rubbed his leg, for about the 100th time that day, grimacing slightly.

“JP needs rest.” Brycelyn shook her head. “We all do.” They’d been riding as fast as Dan had dared push them, this was true.

“I can last a few more hours.” JP murmured, though he’d looked relieved when Brycelyn had mentioned rest.

Dan glanced at Tabitha, and Darcy. As the youngest, they might not have the ability to fully express their needs. “What about you two?”

“I’m tired.” Darcy said. “But I can keep going.” She held her position as Dan looked at her. She was trying to be strong for Louise, Dan realized after a moment.

“It doesn’t matter to me.” Tabitha murmured, almost falling asleep as she sat there.

Dan knew Chris and the other guards would go as long as Dan needed them to, no matter how they personally felt about it.

So Dan looked at Nate, who was huddled into his cloak, cowl up.

Nate glanced to meet Dan’s eyes, then he looked the direction they’d come, where Louise was fighting a battle she might not win. Then he looked where Armir was, just down the road a few hours more. Surely someone had already told the people there that they were on their way.

“Arriving late will have fewer people around to ask questions. We’ll move faster through the city.” Nate murmured.

Dan looked around at the group, then at Nate, then Darcy, then the sword Brycelyn was carrying. He definitely knew what that was now, and he wasn’t even going to try and touch it. Not because he didn’t have Realms magic, but with the number of random vaguely-murdery thoughts he had, it was probably best he didn’t have a magical sword on hand.

“Alright. We’ll get moving again in half an hour.” Dan settled more comfortably in his spot on the ground. He might even get to have a nap in that half hour. 

Probably not, but maybe.

\-----

The guards in the street didn’t bother stopping Dan or anyone with him once they saw who he was, but he could see them watching the group from a distance.

When Dan went to pull off the main road to go down to Howell Estate, Nate hesitated, looking down the main road again.

“Go ahead.” Dan spoke clearly for the benefit of the people watching him. “Give an update on the border.”

Nate nodded, slipping down the main road silently.

Nobody stopped him.

Brycelyn pulled her horse next to Dan, and, after glancing at Tabitha (who was definitely asleep against Dan’s back and he didn’t dare move too much and his back was cramping), looked at Dan.

“He’s the missing prince, isn’t he.” She murmured, nodding after Nate’s disappearing form.

Dan glanced at her. “How’d you guess that?”

“The color of his magic.” 

Dan looked at her, trying to convey enough confusion with his face, but she didn’t offer any explanations, and simply rode up next to JP, where one of his hands was pressed hard against his leg.

The color of Nate’s magic? What in the world did she mean by that?

\-----

Dan woke up to silence. The guard standing right outside his door was always silent, of course, because the ability to keep your mouth shut was vital when nobles were talking about incredibly secret things around you.

Dan walked down the hall, trying to find one of the kids. He also paused and spent a few minutes trying to remember how he had ended up responsible for four teens and kids under the age of 21. In the middle of a war. With nobody to help him. And they all had magic of some kind.

This was definitely not something Dan had expected when he’d gone to marry Phil a decade before, as a teen under 21.

Soft sobs were echoing from down the hall, in the family room, and Dan, knowing there was a good chance someone he was responsible for was the one crying, went to investigate.

As it turned out, all four of the kids were in the room, varying expressions on their faces. JP still looked to be in pain, but considering he had his arm wrapped around Brycelyn and she was buried in his shoulder, still and silent, something more had to be going on.

Tabitha, on the other couch, was holding Darcy, who was absolutely sobbing.

Oh. 

Dan quietly went around the side of the couch and sat in the free space. “What happened, Darcy?” Clearly, something upsetting.

Darcy just uncurled herself from Tabitha and threw herself onto Dan, continuing to sob.

Dan held her, letting her cry, but looked around the room, seeking information from somebody.

“Aevor is under siege right now.” JP said quietly. “We got news of it a few minutes ago.”

Dan held Darcy tighter. This explained it. She had every right to cry.

After a few minutes, a spasm ran up Dan’s arm, and it took all of his focus not to flinch into Darcy’s face. Had Dan been alone with Phil, he would have complained about it. But he was with the kids, so he wasn’t going to. Maybe if it had been just JP and Brycelyn, they were almost adults now. But not the girls. Not around Tabitha and Darcy.

When a second spasm came from the exact same spot, Dan couldn’t help but flinch. 

Darcy almost instantly stopped crying and looked at him. “Are you okay?”

As if waiting for her to ask that, his arm started burning.

“Not really, no.” Dan continued to hold her. “There’s a lot going on.”

Darcy pushed herself out of Dan’s grasp and sat on the couch next to Tabitha, giving him a funny look.

JP turned to Brycelyn and murmured something to her. She sat up and nodded, reaching for that magical sword she always had near her.

Then she looked at Dan, and her eyes widened. 

Well, that couldn’t mean anything good.

Dan didn’t get any time to think about it, though, since Phil’s magic brushed his. He stood. “Phil’s trying to talk to me. I’ll be in my room if there’s an emergency.”

As he walked down the hall, the burning in his arm worsened. Three more spasms happened before he was locked safely in his room, at which point he crashed on the bed and opened the communication spell from Phil.

“Is it happening to you too?” Phil asked.

“Is what happening to me too?” Dan asked. “What’s going on over there? You never talk to me this early.”

Another spasm wracked Dan’s arm, and Phil gasped, sounding very much in pain. “Eden Coast is under siege. I can see the smoke from here.”

It clicked. “You can feel the pains too?”

“Ye-yeah.” Another spasm had come mid-word. “I was warned to expect them when Suzerain started actually attacking cities. Apparently Matthias has been in pretty much constant agony the last few weeks, as he’s lost more and more cities. Amanda --” another spasm, sending Dan curling into a ball and Phil gasping “Amanda hasn’t been hit as hard by them. They thought it was because she’s from a different kingdom, so I was hoping you’d be okay when--” Phil’s sentence was cut off by a groan of pain as the burning pain got so bad Dan half-expected to see his arm spontaneously ignite. 

Phil didn’t say anything for a few minutes, breathing heavily. “Peej, I can’t make it all the way back to my room. I’m barely standing.” The words were breathless, barely audible to even Dan, who had magic to hear Phil like he was standing a foot away. Phil must be extremely quiet, then. “Dan? Are you safe?”

“I made it back to my room in time.” Dan managed, only to be hit by another spasm. “What...why are there spasms and burning?”

“Burning is apparently...” Phil trailed off for a minute, apparently as distracted by the spasms (which were coming regularly now) as Dan was. “...burning means the city is on fire. The spasms...catapult impacts...ship based for us.” Phil’s voice got quieter and quieter with each spasm that hit.

The pain was so bad in Dan’s arm he was ready to chew it off. Though, really, it would be easier to cut it off, seeing as he had sharp blades around. Would Chris refuse if Dan ordered that?

Chris would probably not only refuse, but tell Dan’s parents and have him be watched to make sure he didn’t try to to hurt himself.

“How...you said Matthias -- he’s been dealing with this?”

“Mmhmm.”

“How?”

“Not well.”

Dan shuddered, digging his fingers into the pained arm. Did it help? Not really, but it gave him something else to focus on.

“Luna?” If a toddler was going through this...

“Hasn’t been bound. Can’t --” Phil’s sentence was broken off by an actual scream.

Someone pounded on Dan’s door. “Lord Howell? What’s wrong?”

Oh. Dan had been the one to scream. Maybe Phil had too, Dan hadn’t been able to tell.

Then another horrible thought hit Dan. “Dil?”

“Haven't bound him yet. Couldn't --” Phil faded for a moment. Had Phil passed out from the pain?

“Couldn't put him through this.” Phil's murmur barely sounded conscious, and the communication spell started to pull apart. “Getting him to safety. He's going to bE AWAY FROM THE fighting.”

“Hang on, Phil.” Pj's voice murmured. “I'll do what I can for the pain here, but I can't do anything for Dan.”

Phil's response was sobs and screams as the pain spread to Dan's side as well. Dan could almost feel Phil's pain over their marriage binding, and it hurt so so very much. More than what Dan was feeling.  

Then soft, vague impressions of night stars, and memories of the tour he and Phil had done. Dan was aware he was still screaming from pain, but he could focus on these.

And then the stars and memories overtook him, and the pain grew too painful, and Dan did the expected thing and passed out, just as Chris got the door open.


	33. The Responsibility of Nobility

“What else can Protectors do?” Molly asked suddenly.

Cry looked over from his examination of another tapestry. They'd been walking in silence for several minutes, so her question had come as a bit of a surprise.

“What do you mean?”

Molly shrugged. “Just...I think I've heard Wade and Pat mentioning things that seem to be Protector things, but you didn't mention them.”

“Well, Protectors can activate their noble’s magic, if they have a good enough relationship. Other than that, though, there's not really anything regular that happens.”

Molly looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't.

“A lot of nobles and Protectors report learning new ways to use their magic after the binding. Phil learned how to bind plants to energy sources. Protector Liguori learned how to bring memories and emotion into his illusions.” Cry hesitated. “I became able to control lightning from storms and Fe--” The name caught for a moment. “Felix was able to --” 

Cry closed his eyes, cursing softly. He'd thought he was ready to talk about Felix, but apparently not.

“You don’t have to talk about him.” Molly said. She hesitated, and Cry opened his eyes to look at her.

“Is it possible for a Protector to talk to their noble through a dream?” She finally asked.

“Ah. What did he say?”

Molly let out a long breath. “He's been ordered to attack Septimal on the night on the moon event. He asked me to evacuate the city.”

“Him specifically?”

Molly nodded, then sighed. “He was ordered to kill me, too.”

Cry sighed. “Do you think he will? The fact that he's warning you means he doesn't want to.”

“He said the moon event was going to boost all of the demons’ magic, and implied the blue moon would be boosting his magic. And then he said the last time he saw one of these was when he was made into a demon and he didn't know what would happen.”

Cry cursed again. “Which is why he wants you to evacuate the city.”

“But then the plague will spread. It's already killed an eighth of the city.”

“But you don't want to condemn an entire city to death.”

Molly nodded.

Cry sighed. “I’m not terribly experienced at being a Lord, you know that right?”

“You’ve been in charge of a Realm longer than I have.” Molly pointed out.

Cry nodded slowly. “Well, this probably isn’t a conversation we want to be having in the middle of a hallway.”

“We can use Wade’s office.” Molly turned and led the way, leaving Cry to follow and ponder the problem Molly had just placed in front of him.

Wade’s office, as it turned out, was a fairly small room in one of the three towers on the fortress itself (as opposed to the four on the outer defensive walls), with a single window facing the main courtyard, a desk, three chairs, and a small bookcase. It was smaller than Cry’s office back home, but the Septimal fortress was smaller than the Quintal fortress (even though the Seventh Realm had a larger population than the Fifth), so that wasn’t really surprising.

Molly dropped into the chair on the other side of the desk, into Wade’s chair, and Cry took the other side after closing the door. Presumably, the third chair, which was crammed into the space next to the bookcase, was where Protector Static normally sat. 

“I don’t know what to do.” Molly sighed, slouching in the chair. “If I don’t evacuate the city, I’m condemning 3500 people to death, and that’s not even counting the navy that’s stationed here and in the surrounding areas. If I count the navy, that’s a good 4500 people. And even then, there’s no way to be sure what’s going to happen. Gar didn’t tell me if the entire coastline would be attacked, or if demons would be pounding on the protection spells.”

“He has to get through them to try to kill you.” Cry pointed out.

“Protection spells have never stopped Gar from going anywhere.” Molly glanced up. “Remember, he’s been to at least three Realms in the past year alone, and none of the spells even slowed him down. Not even the ones surrounding the palace in Primus, and those are apparently super impressive.”

“They’re very impressive.” Cry dipped his head. “You’ve made your point. So the question is if any other demons are coming with him. And I don’t think he would be allowed to tell anyone about that.”

Molly nodded. “Exactly. And he said he doubted he’d be able to contact me through dreams a second time, so someone was probably paying really close attention to him.”

“He likely didn’t want to risk someone finding out what he was doing. Communicating through dreams requires both members to be sleeping, and I...I don’t know how unusual that is for demons.” Hopefully Molly would put the rest together -- Gar was smart enough to be able to come up with an excuse to be sleeping once, but if he kept it up someone would catch on really quickly. And then someone might order Gar to mislead Molly, or to try and hurt her through the dreams.

Molly gave a brief nod. “It’s pretty unusual. At the demon camp, Gar was the only one I ever saw sleep on a regular basis, about every other day. Others would from time to time, but the more powerful they were, the less they slept. Except for Gar.” Molly frowned. “I wonder if the reason he did sleep was because he was keeping such a tight control on his demon magic.”

“And now that he’s functioning as the Demon Prince, everyone is expecting him to be drawing on demon magic.” Cry paused. 

“That must be the reason why nobody recognized him in the camp, then. Because he was acting like a low-powered demon.” Molly realized.

“Well, and that he was actually nice.” Cry couldn’t help but remember that those words were the exact ones JP used to describe Gar in the demon camp.

Molly nodded. “He tries.” She leaned back in her chair, letting out a long breath. “How bad did the plague get across the kingdom last time? Wade told me that in the First Realm, it was one in three dead, and I know it was one in five here. This one is one in eight, so far, but I don’t know if it’s a different type that’s more survivable or if people are just...more likely to be immune to it.”

“Most places weren’t as bad as the First Realm. It’s the most populated, though, so the plague spread better.” Cry paused. “Well, it was. I don’t know if it still is.” He made a face, even though Molly couldn’t see it. “The Sixth was probably next worse. I heard the death count was one in four in the capital, but lower the farther you got from the university there.”

“So most were about one in five?”

Cry nodded. “The Fifth was one in six. The Third, I think, was about one in every four and a half, and the Second and Fourth were one in five.”

Molly sighed. “So even with the lowered deadliness, more people are going to die from the plague than if I don’t evacuate the city.”

“It’s possible.”

Molly just sat there for a minute, then paused. “People don’t cross the mountains in winter, though.”

Cry dipped his head. “Most don’t. There are always a few.”

“Most people don’t feel incredible amounts of loyalty and duty to trek across mountains with limited supplies.” Molly paused. “Are either of you hurt? I totally forgot to ask that earlier.”

“No injuries.” Cry slouched in his chair some. It wasn’t terribly comfortable. “Just tiredness from travel.”

Molly nodded.

“So the question you’re debating is if the plague will cross the mountains because it’s winter.” Cry ran a hand through his hair again. It was getting to be a habit. “I don’t know. I don’t know how the people here think. I know what would happen in the Fifth Realm, which is that people would travel wherever despite it being winter, but I don’t know here.”

“I’ve never lived outside Septimal.” Molly shook her head. “And I haven’t been in a position to be able to observe how others travel much.”

“Well, you don’t have to decide right now.” Cry sat up in his chair, crossing his ankles underneath it. “There’s still more than a month until the blood blue moon. You might be able to talk to Protector Static or Wade about it by then. And you can certainly try talking to Josh.” Cry hesitated. “I probably wouldn’t talk to Phil right now.”

“Why, what’s happening?”

Cry took a deep breath. “Nobles bound to a Realm, so not children like Luna or the two common-borns that were just found --”

“Who found common-borns?”

“-- by Dan and Phil, but the Lords and Ladies and Heirs and Heiresses... when cities are attacked, they feel the pain the city feels.”

Molly frowned, but leaned forward and listened.

“Matthias has been pretty much incapacitated by what’s going on in the Fourth Realm. His wife is doing better, but not by much.” After all, Molly had never met Amanda. “Suzerain started raiding the coast of the Third Realm. Last I heard, six cities were burning. The navy there has sunk about half the Suzerain ships, but they’re losing just as many. Protector Liguori said the only way to keep Phil from literally screaming from the pain is to keep him sedated. I can only imagine how bad it is for Dan.”

Molly sat back in her chair, eyes wide. “Wow.” She shook her head. “That means I’m going to be in pain when Septimal is attacked, doesn’t it.”

Cry made a so-so gesture. “Probably not as much as Wade will be, but yes.”

“So I won’t be able to make any last-minute decisions.”

“I’m fairly sure that’s why I’m here.” Cry dipped his head. “So we can work to make it so you won’t have to make any last-minute decisions.”

Molly sighed. “I hope so, because I don’t think Seventh Realm citizens are going to know who you are to take orders from you.”


	34. Decisions, Decisions

Unfortunately for Dan, Dan had no Protector who could ease the pain of the cities being attacked. 

Dan also didn’t have the convenience of people ready to run the day-to-day events of his mission for him. No, he was all alone for this one. 

Which was a pity, because the fact that Phil had to be sedated to alleviate the pain meant there was currently exactly one person alive who could perform the protection spells for the Third Realm. Which meant Dan could not be sedated.

Not that he could be sedated anyways. He had a job here, and one didn’t just leave four kids unattended. Even when two of them were almost twenty. Well, no, JP and Brycelyn would probably be fine. It was really Tabitha and Darcy Dan was worried about.

On the plus side, Dan had Nate. Not in any weird way. But since Nate was indeed the missing prince to the throne of Avalier (though he still wasn’t in a position to inherit, and he was okay with that), and had been formally announced again the night before, Nate was certainly allowed to help in the war efforts.

In fact, Nate had been assigned to leave for the navy in the morning and to head over to Primus and help everyone there plan, now that Avalier’s forces were mobilizing.

And Nate had offered to take Dan, Dan’s guards, and the kids back to the Realms -- the coast closest to Triol, specifically -- with him.

In the morning.

Dan would have loved to put the decision off until the pain stopped, but that would mean the war was over. And, as a noble, he simply did not have the luxury of procrastination available to him right now.

Which was a pity.

Dan was currently very proud of himself, though. He wasn’t crying in his room. He wasn’t crying at all, actually. And he was sitting in a meeting room -- in the palace, no less. And at a big fancy meeting.

And if he happened to look like he wanted to murder someone, he was being forgiven.

This was likely due, in part, to the fact that JP and Brycelyn were actually also at this big fancy meeting. They weren’t wearing their nobility sigils at all, but that was simply because they didn’t have any clothes with the sigils on them. And because a pineapple made of circles and a flaming star were difficult to embroider on short notice.

And, since JP was there, Dan was not the only noble to be in pain. Sure, JP was partially healed now, thanks to the healing songs of the healer Dan's parents had called in, but only his hip had been healed. His leg was still broken, and the muscles that had been sliced by the Demon Prince weren't healed much either.

Also present at this meeting were several of the other Dukes and Duchesses and the royal family -- all of it, for the first time in fifteen years. 

Nate looked somewhat uncomfortable in his seat as prince, but that may have been because everyone kept glancing at him.

Dan was honestly curious what conversation had happened when Nate had shown up to the palace, claiming to be the missing prince. Whatever it was, he'd apparently proven himself sufficiently, seeing as he was indeed here now.

The other nobles were looking at the Realms nobles a lot, too, and a few even seemed confused as to why Dan was sitting with JP and Brycelyn instead of with his parents.

Dan was confused why he'd been invited if the only thing that was going to happen was Avaliera nobility arguing about how much navy and army they should send to help the Realms when Suzerain was attacking them at this very moment.

“What's the minimum we can send and still have it count for the treaty?” The Duke of Southern Avalier asked.

Next to Dan, JP tensed. (JP had been stuck between Dan and Brycelyn just so they could both keep an eye on him.)

Dan quietly put a hand in front of JP, under the table, trying to tell him to hold still. It was rude to stand at these meetings, unless it was your turn to talk. JP didn't have the practice being rude to nobles to pull it off properly.

JP settled uneasily.

A flurry of conversation flew around the table, and Dan's parents looked more than a little annoyed.

“Do we even have to send any military aid?” The Duke of Southern Avalier continued. “They're holding their own so far.”

Dan stood and put both hands flat on the table, glaring at the idiot noble. 

“I don't know if you've forgotten, Dukeling Howell, but that's not acceptable.” The Duke of Southern Avalier said flatly.

Dan swore at him. “You've clearly forgotten that I'm not here as an Avaliera.” Dan let his gaze bore into the jerk, then turned his displeasure on the other members of the meeting, one by one. “And I haven't held that title for a decade. Not since you decided, as a whole, to renew a huge treaty with the Realms -- something that included _ both _ trade and military aid -- and sent seventeen-year-old me to get married to a complete stranger to seal the deal.”

Silence reigned across the table, and a few of the complaining nobles had the decency to look embarrassed.

So Dan continued. “You already made the decision on whether or not to send military aid. You made it a decade ago.” Several nobles looked away when Dan tried to meet their gaze. “Duchess Pentland didn't even question that, and she's the one fighting the war here now.”

“We have to think of our people. If you were a good noble, you'd do the same.” The Insufferable Duke of Southern Avalier scowled.

“He is.” Nate spoke, eyes flashing at the gasp that ran around the table when he did so. “You don't seem to understand how Realms nobility works, Samuel.”

“He's being unreasonable!” The Duke of Southern Avalier protested.

“He is literally feeling his people dying!” Nate stood so quickly that his chair knocked backwards. “The only thing keeping demons from running free in the Third Realm? Him. The Realms bind their nobles to the magic of the land because of the extra strength it provides.”

“Really? And how would that feel?”

“I'd show you,” Dan said, “but I'm not allowed to light you on fire and repeatedly stab you. Which, if you were wondering, is what's happening to the people in the Realms right now.”

“All the more reason for us to protect our people! Demons are dangerous.”

“If we don't send help, we'll be breaking the treaty.” Nate almost growled the words.

“Fine! We'll figure out some other job for Dukeling Howell.”

Dan pulled himself to his full height, ending up towering over everyone else. “No. You won't. Because I'm  _ Lord  _ Howell _ , _ and I'm returning to the Third Realm. To my people. To my responsibilities. To my husband. To my home.” He stepped away from the table, shoving his chair back with his leg, and glared coldly at the shocked faces around the table. “Break the treaty if you're so inclined, and brand yourselves as selfish cowards, but I will not be here.” He gestured for JP and Brycelyn to follow, and started walking out of the room.

“Do you think they would really accept you? You're not one of their own. You can't even produce an heir.”

Dan paused, even as JP and Brycelyn caught up to him, then glanced over his shoulder to see his parents beaming at him. “Oh they accept me. But even if they didn't, I’d rather be a beggar in the streets of any city in the Realms than be a noble of a kingdom that abandoned their allies.”

And with gasps and murmurs filling the room behind, and JP leaning on him for support with Brycelyn on his other side, Dan walked out of the room. He was limping because of the spasms in his leg, but he was walking.

He wasn't going to ever visit Avalier again.

\-----

Dan almost regretted his decision to go with Nate and the fleet the next week when frozen sea mist hit him in the face six or seven times as he limped across the deck to access the offices, but it was really too late now. Besides, he would have had to find somewhere to hide if he hadn’t left.

Though why he hadn’t gone back to sleep once boarding the ship was beyond him. He literally had no responsibilities on board, besides not falling over the side of the ship (which was sometimes harder than it looked), so he could have. JP did, and Darcy had been carried on board without ever waking up. Brycelyn had started bonding with Tabitha. And Dan? Dan had been filled with the pain of his people dying.

“You should be resting.” Nate barely glanced up from his work as Dan staggered into Nate’s cabin.

Dan let the door close behind him and leaned against it for a long minute, arms wrapped around his side. “Yeah. That would be a lot easier if I didn’t feel like my entire side was on fire.”

Nate looked up now and frowned. “Does moving around help?”

Dan stood from the door and limped his way to the crate Nate used as a seat for guests. “Not really, but it doesn’t hurt it. And then I’m at least doing something.”

Nate tilted his head for a moment, then nodded and set his papers down. “Since you’re here, I might as well talk to you about what the nobles decided after you left.”

“Well, considering we’re with navy ships, I’m assuming they’re sending at least ten ships.”

Nate nodded, looking amused. “They’re going to be sending twenty in total, but only the ten that are with us now are staying. The other ten are just going to be for delivering soldiers and supplies.” Nate tapped on the top paper quietly. “They insisted on delivering the soldiers from those ten ships to the Third Realm. They’re convinced the Fourth is going to fall any day now, and so it won’t make any sense to send soldiers there.”

Dan winced, but didn’t dispute it. Ever since the protection spells had fallen in the Fourth, demons had been able to cross the border. And despite the best efforts of every noble bound to the Fourth Realm, the protection spells hadn’t gone back up. Then he paused and took a good look at Nate’s face. “What aren’t you saying?”

“I had to convince them that the Third Realm would still be standing in two months when the soldiers get there.” Nate sighed.

“Yeah, I can’t promise anything of the sort.” Dan shook his head and crossed his arms. “Not with a blood moon between now and then.”

Nate sighed.

“I certainly hope my home is still standing after the blood moon in five weeks.” Dan slouched against the wall of the room. “But you have to understand, the Realms aren't really equipped to deal with demons driven by bindings. At the wedding of our king, to which Avalier didn’t even bother to actually send a representative and just pretended I was theirs, and his delightful bride, there was one of the demon generals. And it took a good twenty-five guards, two nobles, and the Demon Prince in his human form to kill that demon general.” 

“Who struck the final blow?”

“The current Heir to the kingdom, who nearly died.” Dan made a face. “I’m actually fairly sure his sword, which is enchanted, was what killed the demon.”

“We don’t have a lot of magical swords.” Nate said simply.

“I know of three.” Dan shrugged. “None of them are currently in the Realms.”

“What are they?”

“One belongs to Lord Barnes, but he’s stuck in Bossatronia until he recovers enough from going head-to-head with the Demon Prince. It’ll be quite a while still.” Knowing just how much Wade cared for the people he was in charge of, and for people in general, it must be absolute agony for Wade to be forced out of the fighting and to just stay in one place and heal while others were out fighting and dying. “One belongs to the Demon Prince. Clearly, we’re not getting that one.”

“And the third is Tapestry.”

Dan frowned, eyebrows scrunching together slightly. “Did JP name it?”

“No. Its first owner did.”

Dan raised his eyebrows. “Alright then.” He paused. “We also have a dog that belongs to the Demon Prince, but JP is fully insistant that Dante was given to him and Brycelyn for safekeeping.”

“That sounds about right.”

Dan shook his head. “In any case, we have access to exactly one magic sword, and it has a reputation for hurting and even killing people it doesn’t like. I’m frankly surprised both JP and Brycelyn are able to hold it, much less use it.”

“It is strange, but I’m not going to question the logic of a sword.” Nate paused, then smiled. “Oh, by the way, the captain said, and I quote, ‘the winds are with us,’ and that we’ll be arriving in Avendreal a full week ahead of schedule if it keeps up.”

Dan couldn’t help but sigh in relief at the news, then grin when he realized the full implications of what that meant.

If all went well, he could be back home in Triol, with Phil, before the blood blue moon.


	35. The Blood Blue Moon, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * waves for attention * This is one of the chapters that caused the "Major Character Death" tag to go up. There is major character death in this chapter.

Night was falling quickly, and Septimal was only three-quarters evacuated. 

It had been a long day of organization and execution. Everyone had their instructions: don’t cross the mountains, go into the forest and find a safe place to stay until the fighting was over. Don't intermingle, and don't share food or water.

Molly stood on one of the fortress’s balconies, watching the last batch of citizen leave the city. She still wasn’t sure if she’d made the right decision. Sure, she and Cry had talked over every possibility for hours—days, even—in the past month. Sure, Josh had agreed that their conclusion, their decision—her decision—was the one most likely to result in the best outcome possible.

There was no guarantee that people would be safe in the forest. Molly couldn’t promise the magical inhabitants of the Seventh Realm would leave the citizens of Septimal alone. She couldn’t promise the monster varieties of regular animals would leave them alone. She couldn’t promise anything confidently, and yet she had. She’d told them they would be safer in the forest, and they’d believed her. 

Movement stirred on the streets, and torches were lit. A lot of torches. With only one moon giving light, it was going to be darker than any one of them had ever seen. Most demons had night vision. The soldiers who had stayed behind did not. 

She’d sent most of the navy away as well, spreading them out along the entire coastline. It would be rough if it came to an ocean battle, but she didn’t know where the Demon Prince’s troops were coming from.

Or if he even had any. He could be coming all by himself.

“They’re all out.” Cry said softly.

Molly jumped. She hadn’t heard him approach.

“You’ve done as much as you can.” Cry came up to the railing next to her, his mask reflecting the torchlight from the city below. “It’s time to leave.”

Molly took a deep breath. Some part of her surprised that the salty air was cold despite all the torches below. “Alright.”

She would be traveling through the city to leave, she knew that, but she couldn’t help but give the empty streets below a long, long look. Something told her the city would look completely different in the morning. Finally, she pulled away from the railing and walked with Cry to where Dlive and Entoan were waiting. The others of the fortress staff, and the nobility staff, had already been sent to the forest.

Her footsteps echoed dully as she walked, creating a steady rhythm. Cry’s did as well, but a slightly different one, seeing as he took longer strides than she did. It almost sounded like the fortress had a faint heartbeat, as fast as Molly’s own in anticipation of what was to come.

“I wonder if the seal on Wade will keep him from feeling the magic’s pain when the city is attacked.” Molly said softly. She’d been wondering for a while, and anything to break the silence of the heartbeat was good.

“I don’t know.” Cry lifted one shoulder. The action moved his cloak some, revealing the sword hanging at his side. 

Right. They could end up fighting their way out of this. Good thing Molly had her sword. And knives. She was honestly more comfortable with the knives. 

“Is it back on again?” Cry continued his original thought.

Earlier in the day they’d gotten news that Pat had lifted the seal to be able to check on how Wade’s magic was doing, and that he was planning on putting it back on before night fell and the Demon Prince attacked Septimal. “It should be.”

“Then I have no idea. I, uh, kinda doubt it.”

Molly looked over at Cry, surprised when she could barely see him. Then she corrected herself. It was sunset on a night of a blue moon. Of course it was going to be dark.

“Phil reportedly still feels the pain when he’s asleep.” Cry continued. “So he stopped.” Cry paused. “I wonder if they’ve reached Triol.” The ‘they’ in question was Dan and JP and Brycelyn and the common-born Dan had found (Tabitha?) and the child of a noble in Avalier and a prince from Avalier. And Dan’s guards.

“I hope so. I wouldn’t want to be caught outside tonight.”

She said as she was about to go outside.

“I know Phil’s pulled everyone in Triol into the fortress already.” Cry laughed slightly, but it sounded a bit forced. “Different situations require different solutions.”

Yeah. Phil didn’t have a demon prince sent to murder him. That thought hung over Molly as they finished making their way to the great hall.

“We all ready?” Entoan asked softly. He and Dlive both had their swords out already. 

Molly was surprised to find even Cry looking at her, waiting for her to say something. He was higher ranked than she was, shouldn’t he be making the calls?

No. This was her responsibility.

“Yes. Let’s get out of here before the blood moon sets in.”

As Entoan led the way, with Dlive taking the rear, a deeply comforting thought came over Molly. If, for some reason, she ended up dying tonight, the Seventh Realm would be okay. JP would have to run it, but it would be okay.

Wade wouldn’t be, but... there wasn’t a lot she could do about that.

The streets were quiet, even with the fifty or so soldiers there. Most were focused on the task facing them, even as the full blue moon shone over the empty city. Looking at the sky was so disconcerting. There had always been three moons. Now only one was showing.

Logically, Molly knew she’d seen a blue moon before. She was old enough to have lived through one in her infancy. But did she remember it? No. Did that moon turn purple from whatever caused blood moons? No. Did she have a demon ordered to kill her? Also no. So logic didn’t really seem to apply in this scenario.

As if waiting for her to think that, a tinge of purple began creeping up on the blue moon.

Soft murmurs came from where the soldiers were, but none of them broke position or even drew their swords. That was very impressive self-control, under the circumstances.

A ripple ran across the air, sending unease through Molly.  

Entoan didn’t seem to notice, but Cry shifted uncomfortably.

Molly brushed her magic across the protection spell. No, it was fine. It hadn’t even been disturbed. Likely, that meant the Demon Prince had come all by himself. Whether that was better or worse than with company, she didn’t know.

A shadow flicked at the corner of her vision, and she looked up to see the silhouette of a wolf cross a nearby roof.

“He found us.” Entoan said softly.

Purple finished slipping over the sole moon in the sky. The blood blue moon was in full swing.

The soft rustle of fabric against leather was the only warning they had before a familiar figure dropped down in front of the group, landing completely silently. 

For a moment, the only movement was the Demon Prince, in his human form, standing from where he’d landed. He kept his head down and eyes closed, though.

“I’ve only been ordered to kill the Heiress.” His voice was soft, but it penetrated every atom of Molly’s being. The words could probably be heard all over the city, maybe even the entire Realm itself. “Let me take her, without a fight, and I’ll call off the ships waiting to raid the coast.”

It was tempting. And Molly would have accepted the offer, if but for one thing.

“You may call off the ships along the rest of the coast, but you know as well as I do that you’re supposed to destroy this city.” Molly shook her head. 

The Demon Prince sighed, then looked up, eyes glowing unmistakably brightly. 

Both Dlive and Entoan gasped, but Entoan took a step to be in front of Molly. If his left hand was shaking a little as he put it out behind him for balance, nobody commented. 

“I have no quarrel with you, Lord Cryaotic. Leave and you’ll probably survive the night.” The Demon Prince still spoke calmly.

The only response was the soft hiss of metal on leather as Cry drew his sword. Molly glanced over to see Cry’s left hand clenching into a fist.

“Your magic won’t do much against me.” The Demon Prince shook his head, and flames shot up behind the four of them, crackling so loudly and burning so hot that Molly felt like she had stepped inside a forge again.

A faint ache started in Molly’s chest, heavy and hot.

“Even if there wasn’t a moon event going on.” The Demon Prince took a step closer, even as the fire began to spread, leaping from building to building and from home to home. “It takes incredible amounts of magic just to defeat a demon general. And I,” a soft chuckle escaped the Demon Prince, and he raised his hands slightly as if claiming the destruction that was now raging all around them, “I’m so much more powerful than that.”

The simple ache was becoming much more painful as the fire spread, and it was getting difficult to even breathe now.

“Come on, Gar. You can fight this.” Entoan urged.

The Demon Prince raised his eyebrows and lowered his hands, continuing to walk forward. He had effectively trapped the four of them. “Get out of the way.”

“No.” Entoan’s voice shook, but he stood his ground.

The bright ring of metal on metal sang through the air, and then Entoan was on the ground, blood flowing freely from the gaping hole in his chest. The Demon Prince’s eyes flickered for a moment, as if the demon magic was temporarily losing its hold, but only for a moment.

The Demon Prince casually stepped over Entoan, his boots splashing softly in the pool of Entoan’s blood. At this point, it was clear that Entoan was long past the point of breathing, or of ever needing to breathe again.

Someone’s hand grabbed Molly’s and pulled her back from the advancing demon. She didn’t spare a glance, but the hand was wearing fingerless gloves, so it must have been Dlive.

“I wouldn’t recommend backing up much more.” The Demon Prince slowly shook his head as the fire spread to behind them, leaving them completely surrounded by fire, with Entoan’s body pretty much in the middle of the circle. “Human bodies aren’t built to survive flames hot enough to melt metal.”

Molly had been right. These were forge fires. That seemed somewhat fitting, considering the number of times Molly had gotten minor burns working in forges in the past -- and the major one that had nearly killed her in the camp.

“You certainly can if you want.” The Demon Prince raised his eyebrows. “It’ll make my job a lot easier.”

“I can see a way through the fire.” Dlive murmured softly, sounding close to tears. “You two need to take it. You’ll have to jump through the first part, but then it’s a clear shot out.”

“Oh, yes, Lord Cryaotic, had you forgotten what it feels like to be burned? To have your very skin melt, to be close to death for nearly a whole season?”

Molly glanced to her left to see Cry shying away from the flames, clearly hesitant to get any closer. 

“I gave you a chance to leave safely. If you want to get out now, you’ll have to go through the fire.” The Demon Prince seemed very unconcerned by this.

Cry’s shuddering breath was clearly audible over the roar of the fire.

Molly looked back at the Demon Prince only to see his sword swinging at her with the same deadly accuracy that had hit Entoan.

It froze, cold metal against her neck. Blood was trickling down her throat now, but no death.

Molly's eyes were wide, and an expression of raw determination set firmly on the face of her attacker. Then her eyes met his, and she realized they were brown.

Gar held the position, gritting his teeth, as the red and blue glows flickered back into existence. Then Dlive was pulling Molly backwards as quickly as he could now, giving more and more distance between Molly and the blade.

The Demon Prince looked at the sword, expression calm. “Interesting.” He lowered the sword, and Molly couldn’t help but notice that a thin sheen of sweat was covering the demon. “Looks like some bindings have more weight than others.” He shook his head and rapidly stepped backwards, frost shooting out from where his feet fell. Soon, Entoan’s body was completely encased in ice.

And fire roared up in the open space between where the Demon Prince had once stood and the three surviving people. 

Cry’s groan was painfully obvious, especially as the fire advanced closer and closer at an inescapable rate. In just a few seconds, it would be on top of them.

Dlive made a wet gasping sound, and blood splattered Molly’s face. Her horrified glance showed a knife emerging from his neck, even as he crumpled.

“I’ve still got one more knife.” The Demon Prince called. “If the fire doesn’t finish the job, I will.”

A heavy cloak went over her, and then Cry’s arm was around her, and he forced her to jump through the fire with him, even as Dlive’s body began to be licked up by the flames.


	36. The Blood Blue Moon, Part 2

Wade knew he should be sleeping, but he couldn’t. Not at this time, when he knew the Demon Prince would be attacking Septimal any time now. He’d tried to sleep, to keep Pat from giving him that look, but it hadn’t worked. 

Wade quietly slid his legs out of the bed, wincing as his body complained about the movement. He’d been stuck inside all winter so far to heal, and while it had kept him from hurting himself, it was incredibly boring.

He glanced across the room where Pat was sleeping fitfully, likely plagued by the same nightmares Wade was, of their past battles and the things they’d seen there. It was common for survivors of battles, Wade knew, and he was worried about how bad it could get. Physical healing was one thing, but being unable to sleep well because of nightmares made that so much harder, and then you had to worry about psychological healing.

He gripped the edge of the bed and pulled himself to his feet, grunting at the effort it required. He wasn’t worried about waking Pat, not after Pat had put so much energy into patching Wade’s magic and then sealing it to give the patch time to take.

Wade slowly pulled himself towards the balcony doors, having to pause at each step and look at the room in front of him. What could he grab to help support his weight, since his legs definitely weren’t doing it by themselves? There honestly wasn’t much nearby in the room. Could he make it to the wall without falling? 

A soft sigh came from behind him. “Wade.” Jack said softly. “You should be resting.”

Wade sighed. “I know.” He glanced at the doors to the balcony, where he’d been headed so he could gaze in the general direction of Septimal. “But I can’t. Not tonight.”

Jack walked towards Wade, footsteps silent. For someone whose magic was all about being loud, Jack was remarkably good at being quiet. “I see. Here. I’ll get the doors, and then I’ll help you out.”

Wade sighed again, but let Jack go ahead. He was getting tired of needing help to do basic things like walking. No, that was a lie. He’d been tired of needing help to do basic things over a month ago. He was downright annoyed with it now.

Frigid winter air swirled, and the soft sounds of rain that had been pitter-pattering earlier were now clearly audible. Jack walked back to Wade, then paused and pulled off his cloak before draping it over Wade’s shoulders with a, “Don’t want you catching a cold.” 

Wade looked at Jack, and his earnest grin, and couldn’t help but forgive him. It was a hard situation, and Jack was making the best he could out of it. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem.” Jack slid Wade’s arm across his shoulders, ending up being pretty much the perfect height for supporting Wade as he walked to the doors. “Be careful now. I don’t want the healers yelling at me again for letting you fall.”

“It wasn’t my idea.” Wade complained. 

Jack chuckled softly. “I know.”

Just a few more steps, and Wade was leaning on the balcony railing.

“I’ll get some chairs.” Jack moved to duck inside.

Wade just slid to the floor, cringing slightly at the wetness of it all. “I’ve got a seat.”

Jack gave him a concerned look.

Wade grinned at him. “It’s all about your attitude, not about the sky’s attitude.”

Jack looked confused for a moment longer, then laughed softly. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

Wade lifted Jack’s cloak some, and Jack grinned and closed the door to the rooms before sitting in the space Wade had made.

“You know, I’m surprised we both still fit under one cloak.” Jack chuckled, splashing some water onto Wade.

“Hey.” Wade protested. “It’s not like it’s watertight now.”

“It would be if both of us weren’t sitting under it.” Jack grinned mercilessly. Then he tilted his head back and laughed as rain ran down his crown and onto his face. His hair was already plastered to his head, falling in strings across his forehead. (Wade’s hair was also plastered to his head from the weight of water, but his hair was significantly shorter than Jack’s, so it wasn’t nearly as dramatic about it.)

For the first time since Jack had become King, he looked genuinely happy. And, despite everything going on, Wade felt happy, just because he got to hear his friend laughing and see him smiling once again. 

The pools of water on the balcony reflected the soft red and orange light, and Wade took a moment to appreciate the sunset to the west. Then his smile faded.

He could see the distant hint of blue and indigo from here, and the faintest indication of mountains. He’d known Bossatronia was built on a high plateau, but he hadn’t realized just how high until now.

“You can’t see Septimal from here.” Jack said, his laughter fading. “I’ve checked.”

Wade gave him a curious look.

“When I heard about the Demon Prince rising again.” Jack put his hands in his lap, his serious look once again returning. “That it happened off the coast of Septimal, I went to every balcony on this side of the palace that night, trying to see the city. I did it until I got the news that you and Pat and Molly had returned alive. I never saw it, but I liked to pretend I did, that even though I was months away I could still look over you.”

Wade smiled softly. “When you came and helped with the demons in the camp... you must have left here the second you found out I was going to be the new Lord of the Seventh Realm.”

“Well, usually I’m farther west.” Jack shrugged. “But yes.”

“Then why were you here, looking to try and find Septimal?”

“I do visit my parents.” Jack raised his eyebrows, then frowned. “Well, I did.”

Wade patted Jack’s shoulder, his gaze drifting to the distant ocean once again, and the thin glimmer of orange light. Overhead, the stars shone as they always did, two dark spheres hung where the gold and silver moons normally were, and the blue moon shone as brightly as it could with its full light.

“They’ll be okay.” Jack said reassuringly. “Molly will make it through the night.”

“You saw what the Demon Prince did here, injured and not even trying that hard to kill Pat and I.” Wade shook his head. “So while I appreciate the thought, I’m not sure you’re right.”

Jack sighed. “Wade.” Jack picked up Wade’s right arm and turned it to show his wrist, where Molly’s sigil had shimmered before their engagement. It was still there, but it was unlikely to show again unless she was in danger. “I don’t know much about Realms courtship ceremonies or whatever you call them, just what I saw when my cousin was getting ready to marry your brother.” Jack bopped Wade’s wrist lightly. “But I do know you have a direct line to her. You’ll know if she’s okay.”

“My magic is sealed, Jack.” Wade shook his head. “I’m not sure I would even be able to feel the pain of being attacked like the others have.”

The last glimmer of sun had disappeared, and a faint sliver of purple was sliding onto the blue moon. 

“I wouldn’t know.” Jack shrugged. “The magic here doesn’t even require nobility to be bound to it to function, at least not in the same way the Realms does. Unless you’re the king or queen, you just have to... exist.”

“That’s comforting.” 

Jack nodded, then took his crown off and set it in his lap. After a moment, he lifted it up and tilted it, sending the soft purple light of the blood blue moon reflecting across it. “This is heavy. I’ve worn crowns before, but none of them have been as heavy as this.”

“The crowns we wore as children were lighter, less impressive. The King can’t have anything but the finest quality.” Wade shook his head.

“I’d rather have something that wasn’t iron gilded with gold.” Jack scrunched his nose at the crown. “Or set with jewels. I feel like I’m about to break my neck every time I put it on.”

“You’ve seen the Realms crowns, right?” Wade raised his eyebrows.

“They’re works of art, alright, but I’d hate to be the one who had to wear them. Even your crown when you were a prince -- silver and jewels.” Jack shook his head. “It must have been nearly as heavy as this.”

“It was steel, so that made it lighter.” Wade flicked the edge of Jack’s crown, making the metal sing softly. “Ow.”

“It’s metal, Wade. It’s a bit harder than your fingernail.” Jack rolled his eyes.

Wade smiled. He wasn’t sure if Jack was trying to distract him on purpose or if it was a side effect of the two of them sitting in the rain, looking towards the Realms, and just talking.

And that’s when fire shot through his chest.

“Wade?” Jack’s fingers dug into his shoulders, and Wade realized he’d doubled over and Jack was holding him carefully, crown rolling slightly from where it had fallen. “What’s wrong? Do I need to run for a healer?”

“Sss-” Wade gasped, even as the pain intensified. “Sept-” No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to get past that first syllable.

Jack hauled Wade into a sitting position, then his arm came firmly around Wade’s back and under his armpits, forcing Wade’s arm over his shoulders. “Up. Last thing we need is you accidentally falling to your death.”

Wade tried to stand, he really did, but the pain was so intense his legs just gave out on him, dropping the entirety of his bodyweight on Jack.

Jack swore, and then the two of them were falling. 

Wade landed on something squishier than the wooden balcony. Jack must have twisted under Wade to break his fall.

Jack swore softly. “Ow.”

Wade rolled sideways, curling into a ball as he did so. It hurt so, so badly. He’d been stabbed and clawed and sliced before, but none of it hurt quite as badly as this did.

Perhaps the acid burn had been worse.

Jack moved from next to Wade, and then he could hear a door being opened. He couldn’t see much, due to tearing up from the pain and rain falling in his face, so he was trying desperately to cling to his other senses. 

Then Jack’s arm was around him again, hauling him to his feet. 

It was hard to breathe. Was Septimal burning, then? Was that what this pain meant? And if so, what was happening to Molly?

As Jack dumped Wade on his bed and ran out of the room for a healer, Wade’s wrist, with Molly’s invisible sigil, began to burn.


	37. The Blood Blue Moon, Part 3

The streets of Triol were completely silent as Dan led the group through a small side gate into the walls of the city.

“Where is everyone?” Chris murmured softly, keeping a calming hand on his horse’s neck.

“Phil would have pulled them into the fortress.” Dan murmured back. He didn’t want to speak too loudly, in case someone was listening in.

“Your streets are pretty.” Brycelyn added.

“Uh-huh.” Darcy agreed. “So many flowers.”

Dan took a moment to fully look around. “Don’t move.” He didn’t know exactly what those flowers were, but he’d seen the majority of them in Phil’s poisonous greenhouse.

“Why not?”

“Phil’s set up defenses.” Dan reached his magic into the magic of the land. Was Phil messing with it right now? It was stirring slightly, and stirred more at Dan’s touch.

So Dan sent his magic racing towards Phil. 

“Dan!” Phil’s voice was pained, likely due to the fires still burning on the coast, but Dan didn’t really care. This was the first time they’d managed to speak since they’d come ashore a fortnight before. And, seeing as it was the blood blue moon, they had to go straight to business.

“Flowers. What’s up with that.”

“Head towards our entrance at the fortress.” Phil said. “I’ll keep the pollen off you guys. But don’t stop, no matter what comes after you.”

Dan nodded, gesturing for the others to stay close.

They moved quickly, Phil's magic swirling around them. Pollen puffed from the flowers, but none of it ever got close to the group. It was impressive, what Phil was managing. Dan hadn't even known Phil could do it.

Darcy shrieked, and Dan glanced behind to see a reddish-purple amorphous shape drifting along behind them.

Demons. The protection spells hadn't fallen, though. Was the blood moon boosting their magic that much?

They were downright galloping down the streets now. Tabitha was gripping Dan so tightly he was starting to see spots, but she might fall off otherwise. She wasn't the best rider.

Another scream echoed through the air. This one, while just about as high-pitched as Darcy's, definitely belonged to JP. It was also a distinct sound of pain rather than fear.

“Septimal.” Dan murmured. He’d been hoping they would be inside before the Demon Prince attacked the capital of the Seventh Realm.

“Dan!” Phil’s voice exclaimed. “Is everyone alright? The group faltered for a second there.”

Dan glanced over his shoulder to see JP doubled over in the saddle, Brycelyn taking the reins of JP’s horse. “Nothing we can do about it right now.” No point in being quiet any longer, really, now that there was literally a demon on their tail. 

JP started to slide off his horse, and Dan went to pull his horse back -- he didn’t know why, it wasn’t like his horse could carry three people -- and Brycelyn jumped from her saddle to JP’s, landing behind him and wrapping one arm around him while grabbing the reins with the other. 

Chris, somehow, leaned over and grabbed the reins of Brycelyn’s horse, which had Tapestry and Dante and Pillow. The dog alone wasn’t something to lose to a demon, much less the Sup Guy or the sword.

The demon hissed, and smoke seemed to spread outwards.

_ “HE SAID IT WAS DESTROYED.” _

The words vibrated so strongly that Dan himself almost fell off his horse, and he was a good rider. (Horses were preferable company to humans, after all.)

Dan decided now was a good time to swear, even as he heard Phil give the order for Ro to evacuate the fortress through the underground tunnels. Cramped things, but useful. But even then, it would take a long while.

“She’s right on our tail, Phil. We won’t be able to get in without her getting in.”

“I know.” Phil said extraordinarily calmly. “But there’s too many of you to lose. It wouldn’t --” Phil’s voice wavered “--be good for the kingdom.”

Dan swore again, feeling Tabitha flinch at the word. He’d have to apologize to her later then, when they weren’t about to die. “Start sealing the fortress.”

“You’re not in yet.” Phil’s voice gave no room for negotiation. 

“Take them.” Chris said from behind, and Dan glanced over his shoulder again to get a faceful of Tabitha’s hair. Besides that, it seemed Chris was handing Dante and Pillow over to Nate, who was gently setting them in front of them.

“What about the sword?” one of the other guards asked, even as Dan looked forward again so he could see where he was going.

“I got it.” Brycelyn said, and then an absolutely beautiful ringing sound happened. She’d probably managed to pull Tapestry from its scabbard, then.

The demon behind them screeched so loudly Dan’s ears started ringing, and not in a good way.

That probably meant Brycelyn had the sword. Good.

The next scream was actually two -- one of a guard finally being overcome by the demon, and of Chris shouting the guard’s name. 

They couldn’t stop. Not if they wanted to keep everyone else alive.

Dan had to cling to that thought, even as tears streamed down his face. 

Two more of Dan’s guards had fallen to the demon general behind them by the time the private door to the fortress was in sight.

The entirety of the fortress was surrounded by rosebushes. They were small, in hibernation for the winter, but they definitely hadn't been there when Dan left in the summer.

“Phil!” Dan snapped. 

“Peej has the door.” Phil sounded a little faint. Instantly, a wave of concern washed over Dan. How long had Phil been digging his fingers into the magic of the land, waiting to bring it down on the demon? It was too much raw power to interact with for more than a brief moment. Long enough for Dan and the others to make it across the city to the fortress.

“Start the rosebushes.” Dan couldn’t keep the concern out of his voice now. “I’ll help as soon as I’m there.”

“You’ve been traveling hard.” Phil protested. “It’s going to be so hard on you.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “You’re shaking now. I’m not.” He wasn't sure how he knew that, but he did.

To his credit, Phil didn’t argue, and Phil’s magic began swirling, reaching into all of the dormant rosebushes in the snow. And they grew. Oh, they grew. Leaves and tendrils turned into bunches and vines and branches, climbing the walls of the fortress. 

The door was open, a familiar figure holding it open.

Dan ducked, pulling Tabitha down with him, and they barely fit under the doorway. At this point, Dan more or less slid off of his horse, barely keeping Tabitha from falling, sending his magic through the magic of the land so Phil could focus on the rosebushes.

Brycelyn yelped, and Dan glanced to see that she and JP had fallen off JP’s horse.

“Where’s Chris?” He had a firm hold on the magic of the land now. 

PJ looked out the door, then cursed softly. 

Dan looked around the room, counting people. Nate, JP and Brycelyn, Tabitha, Darcy. Then his blood ran cold.

“Peej!” Dan flipped to look at the door.

PJ looked out the door again, then slammed the door and pulled the heavy wooden board into place to lock it. Then he leaned against it, and let his head drop against it, shaking violently.

Even through the stone wall, Chris’ screams rang clear. Then the screams simply ended.

“Who was--” JP gasped from his spot on the floor “Who was the demon?”

“The Lifeless.” Nate dismounted, gently setting Dante and Pillow on the floor.

JP groaned.

Dan swore softly.

“I'm not sure who that is.” Phil's voice said from a few feet away. Dan whirled to see Phil leaning against the doorframe, clearly shaking from the energy he'd expended growing the bushes.

“Nasty.” JP offered, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position. One arm was wrapped around his chest, and the other resting on his thigh. “We might be seeing Chris and the others again, but they won't be on our side.”

Dan walked over to Phil and, very simply, hugged him. “Is everyone safe?”

“The last of them are in tunnels, making their way out.” Phil hugged Dan back. 

Dan let go, placing his hands on Phil's shoulders. “Are they sealed yet?”

Phil's gaze drifted to behind Dan, probably to Darcy and Tabitha. “Peej.”

“I'm on it.” PJ walked over to Darcy. “Let's get you to safety, alright?”

“You too, Tab.” Dan added.

The two girls, followed by the Sup Guy and Dante, went with PJ down the halls to the tunnels.

“What do you need us to do?” Nate asked. JP nodded, slowly pulling himself to his feet.

“Nate, make a sound barrier.” Dan bit his lip slightly. “JP, can you fight?”

JP nodded, even as Phil sighed. “He’s already hurt, Dan.”

“We don't have a lot of options right now.” Dan gave him an apologetic look. “If we go down, they'll have direct access to the First Realm.”

Phil frowned, but nodded.

“What did you have in mind for me?” Brycelyn stood, handing Tapestry over to JP.

“Can you sense the magic here?”

Phil's breath caught. “She's bound to the Fifth. Don't make her do that.”

But Brycelyn nodded, her eyes closed. “It's singing a little bit.”

“That's probably my fault.” Dan shrugged. “Anyway, do what you can to keep demon magic off it. Phil and I are going to be too busy using it to really monitor anything.”

Brycelyn nodded. “I'll try.”

“That's all I'm asking of you.” It was a lot of weight to put on her, but she was the only one who could even possibly handle it.

PJ returned, fastening his gauntlets as he walked.

Dan turned to look at Phil once again, unable to stop being relieved that he was back home. “You ready?”

“We're together now. We can do anything.” Phil smiled easily, though he was still shaky. 

Dan snorted. As if. 

The two stood back-to-back, closing their eyes. Then, together, they dug into the magic of the Third Realm.


	38. The Blood Blue Moon, Part 4

The magic of the Third Realm was beautiful, even though Brycelyn couldn’t fully see it without the help of Tapestry. On the surface, it was made of a most beautiful sea blue, shimmering slightly as if reflecting the sunlight somehow. But as Brycelyn let her magic sink a bit deeper into it so she could completely monitor it, she realized it was so much more than that. 

For the first time, she could see what the threads of magic were made of.

They could be different through the Realms, Brycelyn didn’t know. But here, in the Third Realm, the magic was made of music and of dancing and of laughter and joy and self-deprecating jokes (Dan was probably the source of that) and the smell of flowers (hello Phil) and the smell of good food and drinks and the sheer love of life.

The fact that it was blue seemed to reflect and refract all of that.

Brycelyn had never gotten this close to the Realm magic before, and she couldn’t help but wonder what it looked like back home, in the Fifth.

Purple-red threads began snaking along the threads making up the magic of the Third Realm, and Brycelyn turned her attention to them. She hadn’t actually thought about how she would deal with it.

Well, Snow had frozen demon magic away. She could probably burn it off, right? As long as she was careful not to hurt the magic of the Realm.

So she did.

JP stood quietly next to Brycelyn, Tapestry itching in his hand. Protector Liguori was next to Dan and Phil, who were completely silent and completely still. Nate was...somewhere.

He really didn’t know what was going on, but if the way the sword was reacting was any indication, something was happening—or it was about to happen.

The Lifeless ghosted through the walls of the fortress, her entire form shredded. Her tendrils were all over the place, and she looked to be more of an oval shape now than a humanoid shape, but JP prepared himself anyway.

Tapestry nearly jumped out of JP’s hand.

“No, wait.” JP murmured to the sword. “She doesn’t have a form. Can you hurt her?”

The sword vibrated a little less, like it was insulted.

“Just trying to be logical here.”

Tapestry seemed to sigh, but settled down until the demon general moved closer. At that point, JP stepped forward, trying not to to limp. Or think about the last time he’d had a run in with the Lifeless.

_ “Oh, did you want a second chance at death, youngling?”   _ The Lifeless’ voice was full of mockery, like she was trying to rile him.

Well, it wasn’t going to happen. JP had to protect people, he couldn’t afford to let her get to him.

Instead, he just slid into one of the many fighting forms Wade and Pat had drilled into him over the years. He might lose this battle, but hopefully Dan and Phil would be able to interfere before that happened.

They could be dealing with demons on the borders, too, so JP dying here and having his body possessed was always still a possibility. 

That would make for a bad start to the year.

The door that PJ had closed and locked started to shake, like something was slamming against it.

The Lifeless laughed softly, a sound that chilled JP to the bone. That seemed to be a common skill among demons—did they have a class for it or something? Did demons go to school?

Maybe he could ask the next time he ran into Gar. He was a demon prince, surely he knew the answer to that.

Although, JP was a noble and he’d never gone to school. So maybe not. Unless demons had a better education system than the Realms did.

The door was still being pounded on, but it wasn’t budging. Benefits of heavy oak, apparently.

Then the Lifeless was reaching for him, and Brycelyn, so JP lifted Tapestry. “Ready?” 

_ “Why are you speaking at a sword?” _ The Lifeless asked, sounding like she didn’t particularly care about the answer.  _ “It’s magical, not conscious.” _

Tapestry hummed slightly, nearly pulling JP out of his stance. JP frowned at the sword. “Look, we’ve got to work together here. Neither of us can do this alone.”

“Please stop talking to the sword.” PJ said, eyes fixed on the Lifeless. “It’s distracting.”

JP nodded, relaxing some. He couldn’t keep balance with the sword like this if he was too tense.

Tendrils smoked towards JP and Brycelyn, and JP swung Tapestry. This was easy enough, he could do this part without the sword’s help. (Some part of him even noticed that while PJ was at attention, he wasn’t actually stepping in to help yet, instead flicking his gaze over everything that was going on.)

Tapestry sliced through the smoky tendrils of the Lifeless easily, making them evaporate and the demon scream. It was probably painful. JP had been hit with a sword enough to feel pity for what he was doing, but he didn’t really have much of a choice. The alternative was dying and having Brycelyn die and everyone dying and that would be bad.

Suddenly, the Lifeless pulled back.  _ “You’re done already?” _

PJ gasped softly, and JP glanced over his shoulder to see the Demon Prince standing there, expression completely still. “It was easy. Even with her guards in the way.”

_ “She’s dead, then.” _

The Demon Prince looked over and sighed. “Veosur, I did my task as the binding required. Boldach has done his. And yet, the Third Realm is still standing.”

_ “Their magic is interfering.”  _ the Lifeless sort of gestured in the direction of Dan and Phil, who hadn’t broken off from whatever they were doing.  _ “And I can’t get a firm hold on the magic of the land.” _

The Demon Prince spread his hands. “Have you done anything about it?”

The Lifeless grumbled slightly.

The Demon Prince shook his head. “That’s what I thought.” He drew his sword and turned to JP, stepping forward quietly.

JP groaned. Not again.

Tapestry, on the other hand, was definitely itching for this fight. JP could barely control the sword. Sure, he’d survived the last fight when Tapestry had taken control, but he had to worry about protecting Brycelyn this time.

The Lifeless screeched, and JP couldn’t help but flinch and glance over to see Nate engaging the Lifeless in a fight.

Tapestry hummed angrily, yanking JP’s arm forward, only to have the Demon Prince’s sword intersect the stroke.

Tapestry was helping JP in this fight, sure, but the Demon Prince was incredibly fast and a lot stronger than JP. And, so with every swing JP managed to block, and every moment he kept Brycelyn safe, the Demon Prince managed to hurt him. 

Blood was running down his hand, making it hard to hold the sword. Tapestry was slipping, and JP’s grip was weakening.

JP looked at the sword, ignoring how much the world was starting to sway. “Okay, okay. You win.”

The Demon Prince instantly backed up, barely dodging as Tapestry took control. 

Some part of JP realized that the Demon Prince had drawn a dagger as he was backing up, and he knew he didn’t have the strength left to dodge a dagger. 

The demon magic had withdrawn from the magic of the Third Realm, and while Brycelyn kept an eye on it, she now also opened her normal eyes. She’d heard the fighting going on around her, and she wanted to make sure JP was okay.

He wasn’t on the ground yet, so that was good. On the other hand, it was almost impossible to see him because of how dark it was, so she couldn’t help him much.

The Demon Prince lifted his hand, dagger glinting in the faint purple light, and Brycelyn went to shout a warning to JP.

Instead of trying to stab JP, the Demon Prince threw the dagger. 

Brycelyn whirled, trying to find where it had went.

The only thing she saw was PJ slowly falling, blood spreading from his shoulder.

Tendrils ran along the ground, darting towards the Lords of the Third Realm -- towards Phil.

“Phil!” Brycelyn shouted. 

Phil didn’t react, still buried too deeply in moving the magic of the land. Dan, on the other hand, did react. His eyes snapped open, and he knocked Phil out of the way. 

The tendrils grabbed him instead.

Then the magic of the Realm flooded everything, and Dan was unmoving on the ground, even as Phil crumpled himself.

Screeches of raw pain rang out as vines and thorns tore into the Lifeless, who then went still and faded.

And the Demon Prince, he was gone, almost as if he'd never been there.


	39. Burning Magic

Brycelyn was the only fully functioning Realms noble in the entirety of the Third Realm. Knowing that was the most unsettling thing she’d ever faced.

Somehow, sitting on the couch in Dan and Phil’s apartment was comforting enough to make her be able to face it. Even though she hadn't been able to speak to any of the other nobles yet.

PJ and Ro were sitting across from her, PJ’s arm in a sling. He wasn’t speaking at the moment, instead looking at a plant next to the couch. It seemed to be dying.

“You can’t run a whole Realm from the couch in here.” Ro said. “And I certainly can’t run it.”

“Phil will be waking up soon enough.” PJ said, gaze still lingering on the plant. “He’ll be disoriented, and won’t be able to do much, but he’ll be awake.”

“How can you tell that?” Ro just looked at him.

PJ tapped his temple. “Protector senses.”

“Really?”

PJ nodded.

Brycelyn slouched in the couch, quietly thinking. She wasn’t here to run the Third Realm long term, she knew that. She was just trying to keep it from collapsing on itself until Dan and Phil were recovered enough from the magic they’d done to take control again. 

Well, Phil.

Dan hadn’t even shown signs of waking. Brycelyn could have checked how he was fighting the Lifeless’ magic with Tapestry, but she knew the signs from what had happened with JP. 

Dan was dying.

If JP had been up and moving about, Brycelyn would have talked to him about it. But he was stuck under the healers’ care from all the injuries he’d received while fighting the Demon Prince. Again. He really needed to stop doing that.

Brycelyn sighed and shoved her hair back from her face.

The door to Dan’s room opened softly, and the healer who had been tending to him stepped out quietly before simply standing there, looking at the three of them.

“Well?” Ro asked.

“Lord Howell is dying.” The healer sighed, dropping his head. “He’s not responding to anything.”

“He’s right.” PJ nodded in the direction of the plant. “Look at it. It’s dying. That means Dan is dying.”

Ro covered her mouth. “What are we supposed to do? Phil’s not going to do well if Dan dies. They rely on each other too much.”

“Ro’s right.” PJ leaned back in his seat. “Phil won’t do well if Dan dies. He barely held together while Dan was out looking for you.”

Brycelyn took a deep breath, thinking back to what she’d done on the night of the blood blue moon:burning away the demon magic trying to attack the magic of the Realm. “I can try to save him.” She shook her head. “I can’t promise I’ll succeed.”

“How would you do that, Heiress Brycelyn?” The healer remained standing in the doorway, preventing Brycelyn from going inside the room.

“The thing that’s killing him is demon magic. I can burn it off.” Brycelyn certainly hoped she could, anyway. 

“And if you fail?” The healer didn’t seem opposed to the idea, just like he was trying to figure out all the ways this could go wrong.

“Worst case scenario, you mean? Lord Howell dies anyway.” Brycelyn nodded to Dan’s room. “A demon takes over his body and magic. The Third Realm falls. The entire kingdom falls.” 

The healer frowned. “And why would I let you do that?”

“Because it’s definitely going to happen if I don’t do anything.” Brycelyn shoved her hair back from her face. “Look, if you want to talk to people who have seen the end results of this before, go talk to Prince Nate of Avalier and Heir JP. They’ve both seen this before, just like I have.”

The healer looked at Brycelyn for a long, long moment, then dipped his head and stepped out of the doorway. “How long do you need to prepare?”

Brycelyn hadn’t quite been expecting to get this far, and had to take a moment to think. “Maybe an hour.” She could do with more preparation time, enough time for a nap, but the longer she postponed it, the farther gone Dan would get and the harder it would get to burn off the demon magic.

The healer nodded, then turned to PJ. “Protector Liguori, stop that.”

PJ let his fingers drop from where he was poking at the bandages under his uniform. “But it hurts.”

“It will hurt less if you don’t touch it and don’t move your arm. That’s why it’s in a sling.” The healer raised his eyebrows, apparently used to dealing with comments like this.

PJ sighed. “Fine.” He instead reached for his cup of tea sitting on the table. 

Ro stood. “Brycelyn, did you still want me to...?”

Brycelyn nodded. “Yeah, go ahead and get him ready. You guys are going to need him if things go badly.”

Ro nodded, leaving the room. The healer moved to follow, then looked at Brycelyn. “I’ll be back this evening to check on both of them. If there are problems, send for me.”

Brycelyn nodded, and the healer left the room, closing the door behind him.

PJ slurped his tea rather noisily, then set it back on the table. 

Brycelyn let her eyes drift closed for a minute, thinking. “Will Phil be able to run the Third Realm without Dan?”

“He’ll try, but they’re such good friends I can’t imagine it going well for Phil.” PJ poked at his shoulder again. “It’s a good plan, having Dil bound as an Heir tonight. I don’t know what we’re going to do about a Protector for him, but I’ll figure it out.”

Brycelyn paused, looking at him. 

PJ raised one of his eyebrows. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Do you still have your medallion?”

PJ’s eyes narrowed. “Of course.” He tilted his head slightly. “Where’s this conversation going? You know there are things I won’t answer, right?”

“I know.” Brycelyn tilted her head. “How long have Protectors had medallions?”

“...I know you know the answer to that.” PJ raised his other eyebrow, looking dubiously at her. “We get them the day we’re selected to become a Protector. You had a Protector, surely she told you this.”

“Yeah, but I’m not entirely clear on what they do.” Brycelyn said.

“Ah.” PJ looked at his hand in his lap. “We’re getting to the questions I’m not allowed to answer, then.”

Brycelyn closed her eyes for a moment, then scooched forward to the edge of the couch. “Where are the medallions taken after Protectors die?”

“They’re buried with the Protector.” 

Brycelyn opened her eyes and met PJ’s eyes. “I know that’s a lie. Sarah’s wasn’t on her body when she was buried. Felix’s was gone, too.”

PJ sighed, eyes closing. “I’m under oath, Heiress. I’m not willing to break it just so you know where your Protector’s medallion has gone.”

“I’m not looking for Sarah’s medallion.” Brycelyn picked up Tapestry and laid it across her knees, looking at the shine of the blade. “I’m looking for Snow’s.”

“There aren’t any Protectors named Snow.” PJ frowned, looking up. Then his gaze landed on the sword, and his expression became thoughtful. “Ah.” A pause. “You know I still can’t tell you.”

“But they are taken to a place, a place that’s old enough to have been built before the Empire.” Brycelyn ran her fingers down Tapestry’s hilt. She was getting close to being able to see the magic in it, what it did, but she wasn’t there yet. “Because Protectors have been around since before the Empire.”

PJ leaned back in his seat, taking another sip of tea. His eyes were fixed unwaveringly on her, which was honestly a bit disconcerting. The extended attention of any Protector was something one generally tried to avoid, unless you were the noble to which they were bound. It meant they were considering you as a threat.

Brycelyn wasn’t completely clueless about Protectors. She’d had one, before the ambush a year ago. She and Sarah had still been getting to know each other, still learning to be comfortable around the other. But she’d met Felix for the first time when she was eight, a few days after he’d been bound to Cry, and she’d gotten lots of chances to observe him over the years. 

Felix was always having people underestimate him. Most of the time, they never saw him amounting to anything. Sometimes they did—Ken, for instance, had picked up that Felix was considerably more skilled and intelligent than he seemed—but most never did. 

Felix had even lied to people before to make them underestimate him.

From Brycelyn’s brief interactions with Protector Static, he seemed to be about as skilled as the average guard. He didn’t seem to be able to read—in fact, JP had complained a few times that Pat didn’t know how—and he honestly seemed too lazy and casual to be the Protector to the Heir Apparent.

Which meant Pat was probably one of the most deadly people in the entire Realm.

And, suddenly, Brycelyn knew where the Protector medallions were kept.

She set Tapestry aside. “I’m sorry. I’ll stop asking questions now.” She sighed, then stood and moved to go inside Dan’s room. “If Phil wakes before I’m done burning off the demon magic, he might want to come in. I don’t know much will to live Dan will have at the end of this all.”

Before PJ could stop her and take her in for any sort of questioning, Brycelyn ducked inside the room and pulled the door closed behind her. Then she took a deep breath and looked at the still figure on the bed.

Dan had a definite grayish tint to him, and Brycelyn had to look at him for several seconds to even see him breathe a tiny bit.

Well, no time like the present.

Brycelyn sat next to Dan on the bed, unsurprised when he didn’t react in the slightest. He was, after all, in the exact same position as when he’d been placed in his bed after the moon event had ended and everyone came back.

Brycelyn picked up Dan’s hand. Some part of her marveled at the fact that his hands were so much larger than hers, but he was taller, so she supposed it was to be expected.

And then she closed her eyes and moved inside Dan’s personal tapestry. She didn’t want to jump in deep, not yet. She wanted Dan to know she was there. And he did: his magic tensed, the remaining thin threads scrambling to protect his life energy.

Eventually, Dan’s magic relaxed, especially after Brycelyn repeatedly avoided so much at looking at anything but the demon threads.

So then, and only then, did she go and get ready to burn the demon magic. Almost instantly, she was being assailed by demon magic. As much as she wanted to burn up all the magic in the area to ensure it was gone, she had to be careful or she’d end up killing Dan herself.

The last of the demon threads were in Dan’s mind, attacking the life threads there. That was worrisome; that might actually have a permanent effect on him.

As she carefully burned out the last of the demon magic, her own magic shaking from the effort, she realized the life threads here were made of memories. And some of them had been damaged, and a few destroyed completely. Not enough to unravel everything, but enough that it was noticeable.

What would Dan have forgotten when he woke? If he woke?

Brycelyn pulled her magic back slightly, checking one last time for any traces of demon magic. There were none, and Dan’s life threads were slowly pulling back together, and his magic was slowly beginning to build again.

So she moved out of Dan’s tapestry.

Opening her eyes was nearly impossible, but Brycelyn managed it, leaning heavily on her knees for a minute. After another minute, she realized Phil was sitting next to Dan on the other side of the bed, looking in desperate need of sleep.

“I did everything I could.” Brycelyn rubbed her face, trying to stay awake. “The rest is up to him now.”

Phil nodded. “Thank you.”

Brycelyn nodded, sliding off the side of Dan’s bed. The world wobbled, and she stumbled. If that wasn’t a sure sign that she’d overextended her magic, she didn’t know what was. 

“Just rest.” Phil said. “It’s still night, so you don’t have to worry about messing up your sleep schedule.”


	40. Repairs and Repercussions

Smoke inhalation hurt under normal circumstances. Burns hurt under normal circumstances. They hurt extra when both of them were together.

“You’d stop coughing if you’d  _ stop standing outside in the cold when your lungs are burned _ .” Nin said flatly, looking entirely unimpressed at Molly’s pain.

Molly glanced at Nin, but didn’t bother really saying anything about it. Yes, it was cold. It was still mid-winter, after all, but she wasn’t going to be going inside the fortress until it had been deemed structurally sound by the people who could tell that sort of thing.

So she was standing next to the main city gates, watching the people. Nevermind that it was painful to stand, from the scorching burns she’d gotten on her legs, or that it was painful to lean against anything, from the burns on her back and arms, or even to talk from the smoke inhalation. Even when the burns were a few days old and had already been treated at least once. The important thing here was that she was alive, and so was Cry.

...even though Entoan and Dlive weren’t.

Nin groaned slightly. “Not you too.” 

Molly turned to see Cry limping up next to her. He didn’t say anything, merely pulled his cloak tighter around himself.

Molly had honestly been surprised when she and Cry had made it out of the fires alive, but it wasn’t nearly as surprising as realizing that Cry’s cloak had come through completely unharmed. Apparently it was, somehow, fireproof. Which made sense, considering Cry had been burned badly before. 

She and Cry, however, were significantly less fireproof, and the raw heat alone was enough to blister skin if you got too close -- and having flames dance less than an inch away had definitely been too close.

“Okay, I know neither of you can talk right now, but this is ridiculous.” Nin sighed. “Everyone’s scared, Molly. No citizens are hurt, but everyone’s scared, and we had to leave bodies in the forest from the people that died from the plague. What are you going to do?”

Molly looked over the citizens of Septimal going back into the city. Most of them would be sleeping in the few buildings remaining standing until they managed to get the streets cleaned up and houses rebuilt. The fortress, at a glance, was standing, but it was still being inspected by builders. There wasn’t much of a point in going inside and taking shelter there if the building was going to collapse.

“We’re going to rebuild.” 

Molly glanced to see Bob approaching them, looking absolutely exhausted. 

Nin backed up from Bob.

“Don’t worry, I’m not contagious. The healers gave me the all-clear.” Bob pushed his glasses up his nose slightly. “They didn’t say when I would stop feeling like death warmed over, but I’m not going to get you sick.”

Molly just nodded.

Bob looked at Molly, then Cry, seeming to notice the sheer number of bandages on both of them, then turned to Nin. “We’ll rebuild. We’ll repair what can be repaired, and rebuild the rest of the city. We’re not going to give up. We’re not going to give in to fear. This war is awful, but it’s not going to destroy us.”

“It could.”

“Only if we let it.” Bob turned to Molly. “I’m guessing you can’t talk right now, but we need to know what’s going on in the other Realms. What happened to the other Realms?”

Molly paused, then turned to Cry.

“I can talk.” Cry’s voice was hoarse, and raw, but there. 

“You and Molly went through the same fires, though.”

“My mask provided a lot more protection.” Cry dipped his head slightly. “At least from the smoke.”

“Yeah, how do you breathe through that?” Nin asked.

Cry didn’t seem to react, his mask staying completely the same. Hypothetically, he was making some kind of expression underneath it, but it was impossible to tell. Since mask. 

A long moment of silence, then Cry turned to Molly. “I’ll begin contacting the others. We’ll see how they survived the night.”

Molly nodded.

Cry turned and walked away, probably seeking somewhere quiet. Molly wasn’t sure there were all that many quiet places in Septimal right now, but he might still find one. 

“Okay, so what are we going to do?” Nin looked between Bob and Molly, as if seeking answers Molly couldn’t give. “Us, specifically.”

“Molly’s going to rest.” Bob said simply. “Or she’ll completely tire herself out trying to help people.”

Molly just sighed quietly. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him right now. On the other hand, she didn’t really have the luxury of just resting and trying to heal.

She wanted to point that out to Bob, but he’d been right. She couldn’t talk now. Well, hypothetically she had the ability to, but the healers had warned her not to unless she wanted to damage her throat more. And the pain she was dealing with was bad enough without hurting herself more.

So instead, she just turned away from the wall and started walking through the city, noting which places were most badly destroyed, which were manageable. As she’d been told earlier, most of the houses had been at least partially destroyed by the fire. However, an entire section of the city was largely unharmed.  

Finally, Molly stepped to the fortress, looking up the scorched stone walls of the defensive outer wall. Her footsteps crunched on rubble and soot and cracked cobblestones in the road. Every step felt like a blow, reminder of how she'd failed.

She could feel demons pounding on the protection spells, too, trying to break them. She wasn't sure she'd be able to keep them up.

She went inside the wall, into the front courtyard. 

Frost crunched underfoot this time, and Molly blinked, turning her head to catch the angles. Frost was completely covering the walls, spirals and twirls spreading up the sides from about three feet from the bottom. Almost like it had spread out from someone dragging their hand along the wall.

Had the Demon Prince stayed after Cry had pulled Molly through the flames and tried to protect the fortress? The blood moon had ended by the time Cry and Molly had stumbled out of the city walls, much less by the time the fire went out. 

“Heiress.” One of the builders that had been inspecting the building came up to her. “The building is structurally sound, but we found bodies in the great hall.”

Molly looked over at him, raising her eyebrows, but motioned for him to lead the way. Who had been killed inside the fortress? It had been completely empty. Unless the Demon Prince had put bodies there just to taunt Molly, to remind her how she failed to protect the city. 

The builder stopped moving at the double doors to the great hall, which were only opened enough to allow one person through. “They’re just in front of the platform.”

Molly took a deep breath, then slipped through the opening. 

Two vaguely human-sized blocks, with human-shaped figures on top of them, were on the ground on the far end of the hall, near the platform used during court and events. Light filtered in through the large stained glass windows on the one side, sending blues and greens and whites in circle and diamond patterns across the ground.

Molly slowly walked towards the blocks. What was this? This looked like the beginning to a funeral, or the memorial for a lord. She had been young when Havendal’s father had been buried, but the two figures seemed to be arranged in the same manner as Havendal’s father during the brief public viewing.

When she got closer, she froze for a moment, then took more hesitant steps towards the bodies.

She couldn’t stop tears from streaming down her face when she realized exactly who the bodies had once been.

She walked over to the one on the left first, letting her fingers trail along the edge of the block holding Dlive’s body. It was ice. Whoever had frozen the fortress had probably done this, then, and the level of care that had been taken with the bodies meant it wasn’t the Demon Prince. He would have had to leave before this could have been done.

The knife had been removed from Dlive’s neck, but there was no disguising the wound that had killed him. Blood was soaked into his uniform, and the blood on his chainmail looked just as fresh. Mild scorch marks ran along his clothes, few enough that his body must have been collected right after Molly had left the scene. His hands had been laid on his chest, with his sword underneath his palms. 

A warrior’s burial, then.

Frost tinged the entirety of Dlive’s body, shimmering and glinting as she turned to see the other body.

Entoan was laid out just like Dlive, with the exception of the position of his sword and hands. His sword positioned slightly higher than Dlive’s, the pommel coming almost halfway to his chin, and both hands were laid on the blade itself -- one on either side of the gash in his chest. 

He, too, was covered in frost.

Molly sat on the floor between them, between the ice blocks holding them that seemed like they would never melt, and cried.


	41. On the Move, Again

JP flexed his fingers, then sighed. Finally, he could move his hand and arm without pain. He nodded his thanks to the healer (apparently actually vocalizing thanks was strange when you were a noble) and quietly made his way out of the healing room and into the room where Tabitha and Dil were studying.

“I wonder if Lady Faye is okay.” Tabitha murmured, looking up from her reading practice.

JP frowned, looking at her. “I doubt it, but we’d know if she was going to die soon.”

The Fourth Realm had completely fallen during the blood blue moon. J-Fred and Matthias’ parents had been killed, and the magic had been broken, shattered by Boldach the Bloody.

It had apparently been so painful that Lady Faye had collapsed on the spot, and Matthias, on his way to another late night planning meeting with the other nobles in Primus, had fallen down the stairs. 

His Protector had been unable to successfully recall him.

In the three weeks since then, a lull in the fighting had come, giving the Realms much needed rest. Sure, there were still skirmishes, but the Realms by and large weren’t fighting. In that time, Brycelyn’s birthday had passed -- she’d been wanting to let it slip by unnoticed (“It’s not fair to celebrate something like that with so much going on, JP.”) but JP had told Phil. And Phil was more than happy to throw her a party. A small one, really, with only the nobles and Dante and Pillow and Ro, but a party all the same. Not Nate, though. Nate had left for Primus the day after Dan had woken up.

Dan had spent that entire evening smiling, sitting on the couch without the energy to really get up and move around. JP had never seen Dan smile so much. 

Phil was smiling a lot, too, even when the two Lords of the Third Realm were just sitting in silence next to each other, doing whatever work they had to do.

The faint ringing of metal on metal came from below, and JP moved over to the window to see two figures practicing with swords in the lists. Probably Dan and Phil, getting back into the swing of things after the time they’d been forced to rest by the healer.

“JP?” Dil asked, looking up from his own studying. “Dan said you knew people who died in Septimal. Entoan and Dlive?”

JP nodded, turning away from the window. “Back when I was first a noble, they were my guards.” Even in the demon camp, they’d protected him.

“Oh.” Dil frowned. “Okay. Does being a noble ever get easier?”

"Not so far, but I’ve only been doing this for a couple of years. Ask me again after the war is over.”

Dil nodded, going back to working.

JP didn’t have any specific studying to be doing (Dan had pointed out that JP knew more about the Realms than Dan had when marrying Phil, and Phil had nodded and told JP to study whatever he wanted), and Brycelyn was practicing seeing magic with Tapestry at the moment, so he sat in one of the remaining chairs in the room and sent lights dancing around the room. He could do twelve easily now, but whenever he went to make a thirteenth, it wasn’t really good. It would barely glow and it would fade pretty quickly, and he couldn’t make it go anywhere.

However, as he’d been practicing the past few days, he’d learned he could make the weir lights themselves invisible but keep the light they were generating. Or he could completely contain the light and have floating balls roam the room. It was incredibly cool, and he kept using it to make Brycelyn look like some heavenly being -- because, honestly, she was.

“Can you turn yourself invisible?” Dil asked, getting JP’s attention again.

JP looked at the new noble, then paused and looked at his lights. “I’ve never tried before.” He extinguished all his lights, leaving the room slightly darker than it had been before, and thought and sat for a minute. How would he turn himself invisible? He could turn his lights invisible. Was it like that?

“I can still see you.” Dil said.

“Just do your work, okay?” JP said. “I’ll be working on this for a while.”

Dil nodded, looking back at whatever he’d been doing. He glanced up at JP every now and then, and always seemed a bit disappointed.

Well, that just meant Dil could still see JP.

There was really no guarantee JP could turn himself invisible, but he wanted to try anyway. It would be cool if he could.

Well, maybe...maybe if JP made himself glow, then turned that light invisible. Could he do that? He’d never tried to make anything other than a weir light emit any sort of glow.

JP focused on that for a few minutes, then raised his eyebrows. “Would you look at that.” He murmured the words softly, getting a surprised glance from Dil, and wiggled his fingers. He was glowing.

Now could he turn himself invisible?

Brycelyn poked her head in the room, glancing around it. “Hey, have either of you seen JP? Dan and Phil want to talk to him.”

Tabitha looked up, then at the chair, then frowned. “He was there a minute ago.”

Dil nodded in agreement, eyes wide and a grin beginning to spread across his face. He was such a kid still -- nevermind he was only a few years younger than JP had been when Wade had become his guardian.

JP stood as quietly as possible, then walked over to Brycelyn as she gave Dil a suspicious look. 

“He was right there. He was practicing something with his magic.” Dil insisted, gesturing to the chair where JP had been sitting a moment before.

Brycelyn paused, then her eyes widened, and then she looked straight at JP. “How are you doing that?”

“You can see me?” JP blinked, half surprised at her actually seeing him and half surprised that his voice hadn’t cracked.

Brycelyn nodded. “Well, I can see your magic, and your life energy. Not you specifically, though.”

“Wow.” JP scratched his head.

“I can’t.” Dil protested. “That’s not fair.”

JP grinned, a thought coming to him. “You said Dan and Phil wanted to see me?”

“Both of us, really, but yes.” A pause. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Oh yeah.”

Brycelyn laughed, turning and walking down the corridor. “This way, then.”

JP followed as quietly as he could, resisting the temptation to talk to Brycelyn. This wasn’t going to work if anyone heard him.

They walked down to the lists, where Dan was leaning against the wall (which had been cleared of rosebushes), stretching one arm over his head, watching Phil and PJ practice. His hair, JP couldn’t help but notice, had gone curly and damp -- even in the cold winter air, sword practice was still going to make you sweat.

“Where’s JP?” Dan asked, looking over at Brycelyn.

“I didn’t see him anywhere. Dil and Tabitha haven’t seen him recently, either.” Brycelyn said, sounding as if she really hadn’t been able to find JP.

Dan sighed, dropping the back of his head against the wall of the fortress. “Well, he wouldn’t have gone far. Probably off exploring the fortress.”

“He might have gone searching for a dark room. Dil said he was practicing his magic.”

Dan wiggled his head a bit, then nodded. “Yeah, that would make sense. I really wish he wouldn’t go off alone, though.”

“It’s not like he has a Protector to follow him.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.” Dan raised his eyebrows, voice quiet. “And we barely even know anything about them.” Then his gaze flicked to behind JP, and he raised the volume of his voice. “Once again, Peej, you’ve trounced my husband. I feel like I should challenge you to a duel or something to regain lost honor.”

“Dan.” Phil complained, walking up and stopping mere inches from where JP was standing -- JP could feel Phil’s heavy breathing on the back of his head. 

“You’re right, I would lose. Better to lose a little dignity than my life.” Dan nodded.

PJ laughed slightly. “I’m not allowed to kill you.”

“Oh, I have no doubt you’d merely knick me. But, knowing me, I’d manage to get infected, and that’s what would kill me.”

PJ raised one eyebrow. “Well, good thing I’m not going to duel you, then.”

“JP’s off practicing his magic somewhere.” Dan turned to Phil. “I really think we should tell him. That’s not a fair surprise to spring on him.”

“It’s not my choice.” Phil frowned. “If it was, the two would have met a year ago.”

“We could talk to Josh about it.”

PJ sighed, shaking his head. “He’s not the one who chooses these things.”

“Really?”

PJ nodded. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of people, but nobody is willing to talk about it.”

Dan frowned. “That’s not fair.”

Brycelyn glanced around, then settled her gaze behind PJ for a moment before returning it to Phil.

“What?” PJ asked.

“Oh, I just thought I saw something, but I didn’t. It was probably a bird.” Brycelyn shrugged.

It was a good thing the ground near the lists was packed hard, and the snow worn away. It meant JP could circle around PJ without his footprints giving his movements away.

It was getting increasingly difficult to keep himself invisible. Doing it while he was standing still was easy. Doing it while he was moving was hard. And now that he’d been doing for maybe ten minutes straight, it was getting to be downright tiring.

So once he was behind PJ, he stood there for a minute until PJ’s attention seemed decently fixed on the two Lords and Brycelyn.

Then he let himself turn visible, which was really a matter of stopping forcing himself to be invisible.

Dan yelped and jerked backwards, bonking his head and shoulders into the stone wall of the fortress, then doubled over, cursing. Phil was instantly at Dan’s side, looking concerned, while PJ flipped around so fast he actually shouldered JP in the face hard enough to knock him over.

Brycelyn’s laughter pealed out.

JP sat in the dirt and held his nose. “Ow.”

PJ just looked at JP for a minute. Then he started to laugh.

“Dan, are you alright?” Phil asked.

“Of course I’m not, I just banged my head on stone!” Dan glared at Phil, still holding his head.

Phil frowned.

Dan sighed. “I’ll be fine. You don’t need to call the healers.”

Phil’s worried expression eased.

“Really, Phil, I’m fine. I’m not going to die on you.”

Phil frowned some, the rest of his expression incredibly sad. “You almost did.”

Dan sighed again, then let go of his head and placed one hand firmly on Phil’s shoulder. “I’m not going to die on you. You’d burn down the fortress with one of your candles if I wasn’t around.”

JP caught Brycelyn looking at him. This felt like a moment they weren’t supposed to be witnessing.

“Also, JP, since when have you been able to turn invisible?” Dan gave JP an incredulous look.

“This morning.” JP grinned, getting to his feet. Then he took his hand away from his nose and grimaced at the blood on his fingers. “That hurt.”

“You’ll survive a broken nose.” PJ said. “Probably.”

JP just looked at him for a minute, then went back to touching his nose and turned to the Lords of the Third Realm. “I heard you wanted to talk to me?”

Dan looked over, nodding. “Josh wants all of us in Primus.” Then he hesitated, then sighed. “I told him about the prophecies.”

JP and Brycelyn looked at each other. 

“Okay. And?” JP asked. “Why do all of us have to go for that?”

“He wants to talk to you two about it in person. And me, because I have copies of them -- which will be coming with us. Tabitha needs to be handed over to Lady Faye. Dil has to be introduced to court. Phil’s just refusing to let me out of his sight right now, and apparently Josh took part in some strange conversations over communication spell at unholy hours of the morning because Phil was panicking. Darcy can't be left alone.”

“I couldn’t get ahold of you.” Phil frowned slightly.

“I was sleeping.” Dan raised his eyebrows. “And you never tried to get ahold of anyone around me. Not even these two, once you knew they were with me.”

Phil just frowned more. “I was worried.”

Dan sighed, shaking his head. 

The longer JP spent around Dan and Phil, the more he wondered how they ever got any actual work done, especially for things that required both of them.

“When are we leaving?” Brycelyn asked. 

“In the morning.” Dan said. 

“We’ll have a full guard, though, so both of you can wear your sigils if you want.” Phil added.

Dan just looked at Phil, then nodded resignedly. “Yeah, sure, I don’t care. Does Dil have a sigil yet?”

Phil shook his head. “The magic is waiting.”

“Has that happened before?”

“Well, Wade didn’t get his own sigil until he became Lord of the Seventh Realm.” Phil shrugged. “Maybe the magic knows something we don’t.”

Dan stood from leaning against the wall and moved as if he was going to walk off, only to have Phil grab his shoulder without even looking at him. “Phil.”

“There’s no time for you to contemplate the consciousness of the magic right now.” Phil shook his head. “We’ve got to get everything set up for when we’re gone.”

JP paused, letting Dan and Phil argue in the background, and turned to PJ. “Are they always like this?”

PJ nodded. “Frequently.”

“Oh.” JP frowned for a moment, then brightened. “How many guards are in a full guard for seven nobles?”

“Twelve, at least. Why?”

JP grinned. “Twelve new friends. Yeah.”

Brycelyn started laughing again.


	42. Recovery is a Long Road

Wade had a lot of time to think about things as he worked his way to recovery. He was still a long way off from being where he once was, he knew that, but at least now he could make his way around the room without falling over.

“Stop showing off.” Pat grumbled, gripping the table he was standing next to. “It’s not fair.”

Wade grinned at him, taking some more steps. He was still leaning on objects as he went around the room, and he wasn’t terribly fast, but he was now only using one hand to lean on things. “I’m not the one who got slammed in the side with a sword.”

“I’m not the one who has to go back to practicing magic.” Pat grinned, though it seemed hollow, as if remembering.

“Oh, what did you say about showing off being not fair?”

Pat laughed.

It was hard to be cheerful, knowing the war was still going on, but Wade just couldn’t help it today. He’d seen green things beginning to peek out from the snow, and the weather had taken a decided shift to the warmer. Spring was on its way, and both he and Pat had been cleared to start actually doing things again. Not very many things, or strenuous things, but  _ things _ . 

It had only taken them the entire winter to get there so far.

Pat had removed the temporary seal on Wade’s magic a few days before, and he could tell the patch had taken, just like it had the first time they’d had to do it. Wade’s magic wasn’t very strong right now, but that was why he needed to practice with it again. Ignoring the fact that practicing healing magic was difficult, at best, because it required someone injured to heal. (There was an easily identifiable solution to that, seeing as both Pat and Wade were still not 100% healed.)

What he was most excited about, though, was being able to talk to Molly again. And JP, since he was back in the Realms. Supposedly, he and Brycelyn and Dan and Phil and the two new common-born nobles and a young Avaliera noble were supposed to be arriving in Primus later that day, but he had no way of confirming that until it happened and someone decided to talk to him about it.

Pat yelped, then a dull  _ thud _ sounded, and Wade looked over to see Pat on his back, in that strange hands-in-the-air-and-knees-bent position that meant he’d fallen.

Pat swore, and for some reason, that sent Wade into absolute gales of laughter. 

When Robin walked in the room a minute later to invite them to dinner with Jack and Wiishu, both Pat and Wade were on the floor, laughing.

\-----

The burns didn’t hurt so much anymore. Molly flexed her hand, then her whole arm, then smiled. She would probably have faint scars for the rest of her life, but most of the pain was gone.

Cry, sitting on the other side of the room, was rewrapping his left hand. “It’ll take longer for me to heal. I’ve already got scars, though, so I’m not worried about that. Makes me wonder what design my skin is going to have by the end of this war.” 

For the first time, he was sitting with his entire arm exposed. The sleeve had been shoved up to his shoulder, and his arms were indeed covered in faint silvery scars. Well, covered was a bit much. It looked like some of them had faded over time.

“This arm got the worst of it when I was a kid.” Cry said by way of explanation, clearly noticing Molly noticing his arm. “It’s...about as bad as my face.”

Molly tilted her head. “It’s not bad. Just strange.”

Cry laughed softly. “I know. I could take off my mask, and I’d look mostly like any other human. Mostly. I’m missing half an eyebrow, but I do still have eyelashes and one and a half eyebrows.”

Molly just looked at him for a long, long moment, leaning back in her chair. “I don’t know how to react to you.”

Cry laughed softly. “Most don’t.”

Molly rolled her eyes, then looked out the window, only to see the shoreline. Dlive and Entoan had been buried as close to it as she’d dared, and people had started to stack stones on their graves. In a Realm where everything was buried by snow in winter, you could identify which graves were most cared about by how many stones were on them. It was a bit of an odd tradition.

Apparently a lot of people had cared about Dlive and Entoan, or at least what they’d done. Their graves already had dozens of neatly stacked stones on them.

“Spring is coming.” Cry sighed. “Josh contacted me late last night. Now that the blood moon is over, he wants me back in Primus for a while. He didn’t say why.”

“Did he forget about your wedding this fall?” Molly raised her eyebrows. How in the world was Cry going to manage planning a wedding and managing a war at the same time?

“I doubt it. He’s usually on top of everything.” Cry pulled his sleeve down over his bandages, head tilted some. “Almost everything.”

“Maybe he just doesn't think it's a good idea to have a kid in the middle of a war. Kids take a lot of attention, and it's not fair to have one of you can't give it to them.” Molly knew what he was talking about -- most of the kingdom was talking about it.

Cry dipped his head. “He doesn't really have a choice. The kingdom will collapse if we end up without royal magic.”

Molly made a face. And if Josh died, Wade would be faced with that same lack of choice. No matter who he ended up married to.

That was a thought she didn't really want to dwell on, no matter how often it came up.

\-----

Most of the snow had melted as JP and Brycelyn and Dan and Phil and Dil and Tabitha and all the guards entered Primus. Small flowers were popping up between cobblestones, on trees, in windows, on vines climbing the old stone buildings.

“I don't think I'll ever get used to how big this city is.” Brycelyn said, looking around in awe.

“It's not too bad.” JP said.

Brycelyn rolled her eyes. “Not all of us were born here, you know. This is only my third time here.”

“There's so many buildings and people.” Tabitha murmured, eyes wide.

“It's way bigger than Triol.” Dil sort of pulled his horse towards Phil.

“It's the most populated city in the kingdom.” Dan smiled at someone in the crowd they were attracting. “It has to be bigger.”

“Woah.” 

JP glanced over at Phil, wondering what he thought of the city (he was 31, surely he'd been here at least a half dozen times before), only to realize Phil was giving him a thoughtful look. 

What did Phil know that JP didn't? Probably a lot of things, honestly, but how many of them would make Phil do that?

“Do we always attract a crowd?” Tabitha asked Brycelyn, and JP turned his attention back to them.

“Usually. When you're in your home city, people are more used to seeing you and don't care as much, but any time you visit somewhere else, crowds come.”

Tabitha nodded slowly. “Should I smile at them? Dan and Phil are.”

“Dan and Phil are well-known and very loved. Wait until you're formally introduced.”

Tabitha nodded again, smiling gratefully at Brycelyn. Brycelyn smiled back. Darcy, sitting in front of Dan on the same horse (hers had sprained a leg earlier), looked interested at that piece of information.

Not for the first time, JP was happy he would get to marry Brycelyn someday.

“Oh I know that look.” Minx's cheerful voice said. They must have gone inside the palace outer walls, then. 

“Don't tease them.” Phil said, dismounting and walking up to Dil, catching him as he fell off instead of dismounting properly.

Minx laughed. It was at that moment that JP noticed the Captain of the Royal Guard was wearing full armor instead of the normal half armor. “These two I don't recognize. Tabitha and Dil?”

“Yup.” Dan dismounted, then helped Darcy down. “Tabitha, Dil, this is Captain Minx of the Royal Guard. You'll see her around a lot.”

“Heirs.” Minx bowed slightly, then turned to Dan. “I've got more work than ever, but they're ready for you all in the meeting room.”

Dan hesitated, glancing at Phil, as if seeking help.

Oh. Brycelyn had warned that Dan's memories might be damaged, but JP hadn't really seen any indications of it until now. 

Dan didn't remember where the meeting room was.

“Thanks.” JP said, dismounting and walking over to Brycelyn and offering her a hand. 

Minx’s eyes narrowed briefly, but nodded. “Sure thing.” She walked off.

Dan gave JP a grateful look, even as Brycelyn settled Pillow in her pocket and took Dante out of the saddlebag and put him on the ground next to her feet.

JP nodded, but he was really more concerned about what awaited them inside. A lot.

But everyone was ready now, so JP just started walking inside.


	43. King's Orders

Dan and Phil were quietly, quickly speaking with each other as JP led the way to the meeting room, even as Darcy grabbed Dan's hand and walked alongside.

“I'm going to get lost here, aren't I.” Dil sighed, looking down another hallway.

“It happens a lot. The staff will help you where you need to be.” Brycelyn assured.

“Oh good.”

“We have to tell them.” Dan's voice was urgent. “I don't know what I've forgotten, and it might end up being important.”

“Alright.” Phil's voice was calm. “You do the talking. I'll be right next to you if you need me.”

“Good evening, Protector.” A guard murmured.

“Good evening.” PJ said back. 

Brycelyn's hand touched JP's arm lightly. They were almost at the door to the meeting room.

JP dropped back and let Dan and Phil go first. They were supposed to, after all, since they were higher ranked.

The guards at the door nodded, then one pushed it open. Vaguely familiar voices drifted from inside, fading as the guard stepped inside and said something.

“Show them in.” Josh's voice said clearly.

A pause.

“Yes, all of them.”

The guard slipped out and nodded.

Phil was a half a step in front of Dan, leading him into the room by the hand. Brycelyn's arm looped in JP’s, and they followed -- but not before JP gestured for Dil and Tabitha and Darcy to follow.

The second he and Brycelyn stepped into view, relieved sighs came from around the table.

“It's good to see you alive.” Josh smiled at them, then his eyes flicked behind them. “I see introductions are in order.”

Phil left Dan standing near the wall of the room, where JP and Brycelyn moved to stand for a minute, and set his hands on Dil's shoulders. “This is Dil Howlter, the Heir to the Third Realm.”

Smiles spread across the table, and Josh nodded, gesturing for them to take a seat. Dan joined them.

Darcy looked around until she spotted Nate at the end of the table. She climbed into a chair next to him.

Tabitha squirmed under the gaze of the nobles.

Luna, sitting in her mother's lap, drummed her hands on the table.

Brycelyn moved away from JP and stood next to Tabitha. “This is Tabitha Casper.”

Amanda Faye smiled, gesturing at the empty seat next to her. “I was wondering.”

Brycelyn gently pushed Tabitha towards Amanda, then gestured for JP to come to her.

He returned to her side.

“Welcome back to the Realms.” Josh said. “Please, take your seats.”

If anyone noticed how Brycelyn and JP shoved the chairs for the Fifth Realm and the Seventh Realm as close to each other as possible, they didn't comment.

Based on the map that was spread across the table, and the bits of paper with words and numbers on them, they'd been in the middle of planning when they'd come in.

“How is the Third Realm?” Josh asked.

“It's rough, but we're holding.” Phil paused. “For now.”

Josh sighed, but nodded. “Are the numbers we have accurate?” 

Phil looked over the table, then nodded. “As far as I know.”

“Alright.” Josh turned his gaze to Dan, then to Brycelyn. “What happened while you were in Suzerain?”

Brycelyn told most of the story, though JP jumped in from time to time.

“The Lifeless is dead.” Phil added after Brycelyn finished. “I don't think she'll be bothering us again.”

Josh nodded, then looked at the sword Brycelyn had slung over the back of her chair. It was standard practice -- most of the other nobles had a weapon there, too. “Is that the sword of which you spoke?”

Brycelyn nodded.

“May we see it?”

Brycelyn nodded, standing to draw the sword and lay it on the table.

Nobody moved to touch it besides her, so that was good.

“How do you see magic and life energy?” MatPat asked, leaning forward in his chair.

Brycelyn shrugged. “It looks like threads of tapestries. Human life energy is white. Demon energy is reddish-purple. Realms magic is all various shades of blue. Avaliera magic is orangey-yellow, like gold and bronze and brass.”

“What does Dan's magic look like, then?” Yami asked.

“Mostly blue, but it shimmers bronze.”

Josh, who had gestured Ohm to his side, looked back to the main conversation. “JP, where is Snow now?”

JP hesitated, then placed his hand on Tapestry’s hilt. “He’s pretty far away.” Then he finally realized. “Northwest of here. Near Septimal, probably.”

Josh looked up at Ohm, and Ohm nodded.

“There is indeed a Protector in that area. At the time of the blood moon, there were two. Based off the reports I got from Molly and Cry, it seems like the two were Gar, who’s still Molly’s Protector -- something that saved her life that night -- and Snow, who’s supposedly Gar’s Protector. Even after almost a full millennia.” Josh turned to the group of nobles, as if awaiting their reactions.

Dan nodded. “Okay. Both of them are fond of JP and Brycleyn. So that might help.”

JP nodded. “Snow’s helped out a lot in the past.”

“Is Gar still even around? Or is it just the Demon Prince?” Yami asked. 

Judging by the expressions of the other nobles around the table, this was a conversation they’d had a lot.

“He’s still around.” JP said as Brycelyn returned Tapestry to its sheath. “At least, he was before the blood moon. I didn’t see any traces of him when we fought, but I think that was the demon magic.”

“Have you seen him since then?” Josh asked. “It's been two months.”

JP shook his head. “Haven’t seen Snow, either.”

“Snow likes to keep an eye on things.” Nate said. “Travel isn’t really a problem for him, but I’m not sure how he moves so quickly.”

“Sounds like being undead has its advantages.” Dan murmured.

“Wait, so you said the Lifeless was dead.” Amanda said, even as Luna bopped the table again and started to babble. “How did you kill her?”

“Phil and I shoved as much magic as we could at her, and used the magic of the Realm.” Dan answered. “It exhausted both of us, but it worked.”

Phil nodded.

“So it’s all we can do to kill the demon generals.” Yami murmured. “If either the Soulstealer or the Demon Prince attacked directly, we’ll be in deep trouble.”

“I’m fairly sure we’re already in deep trouble.” Dan raised his eyebrows.

“Well, yes.” Yami paused, looking at Dan and Phil. “Did something else happen?”

“The Lifeless attacked Phil and I directly.” Dan hesitated for a moment. “She didn’t touch Phil, but she got me pretty well. The only reason I’m not dead right now and my body under her control is because Brycelyn burned off the spell.” Dan frowned. 

MatPat raised his eyebrows and put his hands in a triangle and looked between Dan, Phil, and Brycelyn. Then he leaned back in his chair. “You already told us this. Did something come of that?”

“I’m not remembering things.” Dan shook his head. “It’s not Brycelyn's fault, the damage was done by the Lifeless, but...” Dan put his face in his hand. “I couldn’t even remember where this room was.”

The only sound was Luna beginning to fuss.

“I haven’t had any problems remembering things after I woke up, but I’ve had to ask Phil dozens of times about things that happened before. Until today, they were relatively small and vaguely unimportant things, but I have no idea what else I’ve forgotten.” Dan glanced around the table, as if unsure how the others were going to react. 

Nate didn’t at all seem bothered by the statement, but he was giving Darcy charcoal and paper to draw with, so he might not have really been paying attention at all. 

As for the Realms nobles, though, there overwhelming reaction was concern -- concern for the Third Realm, and concern for Dan himself.

“Phil is almost always with you.” MatPat finally said, leaning forward in his seat again (he moved around a lot, JP had noticed). “And JP and Brycelyn were with you for half the time you were in Suzerain and Avalier. Between the three of them, I figure we can probably get around that.”

Nods came from around the table.

Amanda looked over at Josh, trying to soothe Luna. 

Josh noticed, and nodded. “That’s probably enough discussion for the moment. The children need to get to sleep.”

“So do some of the adults.” MatPat murmured, causing soft laughs to go around the table. 

“JP, Brycelyn, stay a little bit. I need to talk to you.” Josh met JP’s eyes, and there seemed to be something incredibly urgent in Josh’s face that only JP was seeing.

Dil hesitated as Dan and Phil got up, with the other Lords (and Lady), but followed when Phil put his hand on his shoulder and guided him gently.

“We’ll talk in the morning.” JP assured. 

Dil nodded, then turned to talk to Phil as they left the room.

Finally, the only people in the room were Josh, Ohm, Brycelyn, JP, and a few standard guards.

Josh leaned forward and put his arms on the table, eyes closed. Then he sighed and looked up. “How far have you two gotten in the courtship ceremonies?”

“About half.” Brycelyn was the one to answer. “Why?”

“Can you finish before the equinox?”

JP had the feeling he knew where this was going, but looked at Brycelyn anyway and thought about what they had done and what they had left. It would be tough, but...

“Yeah, it’s possible.” JP turned back to Josh.

Josh dipped his head for a moment, a flicker of relief going across his face. “Good.” He leaned back in his chair, slouching slightly. “I hate to do it to you, but I’m going to override the agreement you both signed. I need you two married by the spring equinox.”

“Oh.” Brycelyn said, and “Uh.” JP said.

“Why?” JP finally asked.

“Marriages between nobles strengthen the magic of the Realms as a whole. And with what happened to the Fourth Realm...” Josh sighed. “We need it.”

Brycelyn nodded slowly. “Alright. We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve finished the ceremonies, then.”

As the two were walking towards their rooms -- JP was going to the Seventh Realm rooms, and Brycelyn to the Fifth Realm rooms -- JP realized just what that conversation fully entailed. 

“A month and a half? How are we supposed to do all of this and plan a wedding in a month and a half?” Brycelyn murmured.

JP took a deep breath. He didn’t know. “We’ve survived being kidnapped. We can do this.”

“I hope so, because we just promised the King.”


	44. Maintaining Magic

The request for a communication spell brushed Molly’s magic softly, almost hesitantly.

She didn’t recognize this magic. Who was --

Molly set her work down on Wade’s desk, eyes widening. She did recognize this magic.

“Is everything okay?” Cry asked softly from his chair in the corner, where he’d been leaning back and reading through a giant stack of papers.

Molly looked up. “JP’s trying to talk to me.”

Cry sat forward, nearly dropping papers as he did so. “What?”

Molly just gestured for him to be quiet and accepted the request.

“Oh, hey, I didn’t really expect that to work.” JP’s voice was half amazed, half sheepish.

“JP! Are you okay?” 

“Mostly. I’ve got this limp from when I got hurt, and I don’t think it’s ever really going to go away, but I’m definitely alive. And so is Brycelyn. We got to Primus late yesterday, and then we had to meet with the other nobles, and then it was really late and I didn’t want to risk waking you.”

Molly couldn’t help it. She smiled. Sure, JP wasn’t here, but he was safe, and just knowing that took a load off her shoulders. “That’s thoughtful.”

“Yeah. Uh, anyway, I’ve got news, and I figured I should be the one to break it. Brycelyn’s talking to her sister about it right now. Is Cry still there?”

Molly nodded, looking over at Cry. “Yeah, he was planning on leaving once the passes clear. Apparently going through them while they were filled with snow once was too much.”

“It was terrifying.” Cry murmured.

“Can you get him to join this conversation? He needs to know about this too.”

Molly nodded. “Join on in, Cry.”

Cry nodded, complying. “Okay, what’s going on that you need to talk to both of us about?”

“Josh is having Brycelyn and I get married by the equinox.”

Cry swore softly. “What?”

“I mean, I don’t know how I can explain it any other way.” JP sounded uneasy.

“Why? Neither of you are 21 yet.”

“Last night he said it was because the magic of the kingdom needed to be strengthened. This morning, he mentioned he was going to have a job for Brycelyn and I after the wedding. I don’t know what it is yet.” JP paused. “Are you okay with that?”

“It’s an order from the king.” Molly said softly. “I don’t think it matters if he’s okay with it.”

“Molly’s right.” Cry sighed. “It doesn’t matter much. Do you know the date yet?”

“No.” JP murmured. “We haven’t had the chance to talk about it. And we don’t know what we’re doing, or how to plan a wedding like this, or anything.” 

Molly could practically hear JP apologizing for Molly not getting to have her and Wade's wedding yet -- and, since Wade was still in Bossatron, that wedding wouldn’t be happening for quite some time.

“Dan and Phil managed to plan the entirety of their wedding in a month.” Cry said. “They’ll certainly be a help for you.”

“That was like a decade ago.” JP protested. “I’m pretty sure Phil’s parents did all the planning.”

“He’ll still know something.” Molly said. “And he’s a lot closer to you physically than Cry and I are.”

“Okay.” JP’s voice suddenly became very sad.

“Are you handling everything okay?” 

A moment of silence, and then JP sighed. “It’s just...Wade and Pat and Gar and Entoan and Dlive and you won’t be there. And my parents won’t be, either. I always grew up imagining my role models would be at my wedding, but now it looks like that’s not going to happen at all.”

“I can be there.” Cry said. “It’ll be hard travel, but I’m not missing you marrying my sister.”

“I imagine Dan is rather fond of you by now.” Molly added. “At least, Phil thinks so. He’ll be there.”

JP made a shuddering breath. “Oh, oh, that’s good. I just...don’t want to be doing this alone.”

“You don’t have to.” Molly assured.

JP sighed. “Okay. I’m being called. There’s so much going on here and I’m the only one from the Seventh Realm here. On the bright side, Brycelyn’s the only one from the Fifth Realm, so I’m sure to see her around.” 

And then JP was gone.

Cry dropped his head into his hands, fingers curling softly on his mask. “Tell me he’s at least 20.”

“Not until summer.” Molly shook her head.

Cry groaned. “They’re so young.”

Molly spread her hands helplessly.

\-----

The day after Cry left for Primus, Molly nearly lost the protection spells. She’d just gotten news that the plague was almost gone in the Seventh Realm (and rumors that some people had crossed the mountains despite orders and it might be spreading to the other Realms now), and the spells shook, like they were being clawed at, torn.

She spent five hours playing damage control against the demons trying to get in. Finally, the demons seemed to have had enough and Molly could return her attention to other things.

“No.” Nin said, barely seeming to have glanced at Molly before Molly could even try to pick up what she’d been working on before. “You’re going straight to bed before you collapse from being so tired.”

Molly made a face, but stood from Wade’s office chair (which was surprisingly comfortable) and moved to make her way away from the desk. “That’s not a bad idea.”

At which point her knees buckled and she fell onto the desk. Wooden furniture, it should be noted, could be very painful.

Nin pulled Molly up and looked her over, then nodded. “Alright, we were trying to avoid that.”

“Nin.” Molly complained. “I was trying to go to bed.”

Nin smiled faintly. “Well, it looked like you wanted to give Wade’s desk a hug.”

Molly just gave Nin an annoyed look.

Nin laughed softly. “Let’s get you to bed.” She paused. “Wade’s magic is unsealed, right?”

Molly nodded. “Yeah, as far as I know. Why?”

“I’ll have Marie talk to him, then. It’s his turn to keep an eye on the protection spells.”

“His magic is a mess right now. He’s probably already asleep.” Molly shook her head.

“We’ll see how it goes.” Nin took Molly by the arm and began steering her out of Wade’s office. “Come on, sleep.”

Unfortunately for Molly, the demons began attacking the protection spells again, just before she could finally drift off to sleep.

This time, though, as she sent her magic scrambling to repair it, she could feel Wade’s alongside hers. He wasn’t doing much -- he probably didn’t have the ability to do much -- but he was helping.

\-----

Wade ran his fingers over the hilt of the sword Molly had made for him, tracing the leather binding around it. 

“She’s probably still awake.” Pat said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “It’s only now getting dark at home.”

Wade shook his head. “Demons have been attacking the protection spells.” Besides, her magic had felt tired working on repairing the protection spells.

Pat flopped backwards onto the bed, then grimaced and moved his hand to press against his side. “You actually being able to sense that is good. She’s been keeping them strong, then?”

Wade nodded, leaning his sword against the headboard of the bed. “It’s exhausting.” He knew that for sure -- he’d been doing it in the demon camp. “I’d tell JP to do it, but he hasn’t learned how to sense how the spells are holding yet.” 

“Eh, that’ll come once his own magic finishes maturing.” Pat shrugged, propping his head up on the arm that wasn’t holding his side. “That’s gotta be soon now, though. He’s almost 20.”

Wade raised his eyebrows. “I seem to remember two young men who were definitely in their mid-twenties by the time their magic finished maturing.”

“Okay, okay, that’s fair.” Pat made a placating gesture with the hand that had been on his side, then returned it to resting on his stomach. “But you realize half the reason mine took so long is because yours took so long, right?”

Wade lifted his eyebrows again. “Pretty sure it’s because of how powerful it is.”

Pat dismissed the thought with a wave. “You think the Guardians would have let me leave if it was really that powerful?”

Wade nodded. “The magic had already decided you were going to be my Protector by the time they would have realized. You can’t really deny the magic of a kingdom.”

“Sure you can. You didn’t have a sigil back then -- they could have given you literally any other of the trainees that hadn’t been claimed already and you’d be stuck with them. Imagine having Felix as your Protector instead.”

“Felix was claimed the day Cry turned fourteen.”

Pat shrugged. “Okay, but they could have given you someone else.”

Wade just sat there, watching Pat for a long, long moment. Everyone else in the right age range had already been claimed. So he sighed.  _ “Patrck.” _

“Don’t say my name like that.”

“Patrck.” The patronizing tone was still there, but softer.

Pat sighed and rolled over to look at Wade. “Okay, I know you’ve got that royal magic and all, but seriously. They would have just said I’d died or someone had never been chosen by the magic. Or some other random reason, like one of us wasn’t ready to meet. It happens.”

“Oh, I know. JP’s wandering around without his Protector because of that.” Wade sighed. “And you know as well as I do that he’s got one.”

Pat nodded. “I hear you, but there’s not a lot I can do about it.” He paused. “At least Gar was around to replace Molly’s. Though I think you would have liked her, if she hadn’t died.”

Wade sighed and flopped backwards himself. “What’s Josh thinking, having JP and Brycelyn get married so soon? It hasn’t even been a full year since they first met.”

“You would know more than I would.”

Wade frowned. He did know why Josh was doing it, but he still wasn’t very happy about it.

Unfortunately, having royal magic didn’t mean you got to control the magic of the land. You just got to sense it. And when you had to marry nobles to strengthen it, the magic was in trouble.

Which is why it was worrying that Josh was having JP and Brycelyn get married in about a month, and then Cry and Cheyenne in the fall.


	45. What Once Was

“They’ll all have fallen soon enough.” Vozun Bloodmoon grinned over the ocean.

Gar clasped his hands behind his back and did his best to ignore the other demon. He’d come to this cliff to think, not to remember how badly he’d failed to keep the Realms safe.

How he hadn’t been able to fight the demon magic enough to keep from murdering his friends.

“We’ve made so much progress on the kingdom in the past year.” Vozun’s voice was absolutely grinning. “The Fourth Realm is gone. The Seventh will have fallen by morning. Maybe even by nightfall.”

Gar sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. “I was thinking before you started talking, you know.”

“You think too much.” Vozun seemed distinctly bothered by that.

“It’s a human trait.” Gar said casually, watching the sun set. The ocean was sparkling softly, glittering orange and red and pink, and the water itself looked almost purple.

“You have too many human traits for a demon.” 

“If you’ll remember, I didn’t choose this.” Gar finally looked at Vozun, ignoring the fact that the Soulstealer was several feet taller than he was. “You did.”

Vozun shrugged. “We're both stuck with it now.” He grinned. “Can you feel it?”

Gar looked over the ocean again. “Yes.”

The protection spells on the Seventh Realm were nearly gone. 

He could only assume all three of the nobles from the Seventh Realm had worked themselves to exhaustion trying to keep the spells up. Molly had, he could tell even from this cliff in what used to be the Fourth Realm. Snow had said Wade was doing what he could to help. JP was inexperienced, but hopefully he'd done all he could.

“Once seven Realms, then six.” Vozun laughed. 

Gar felt the magic shudder, and then the tear.

The protection spells on the Seventh Realm were gone.

Vozun laughed again. “And now five.”

One. Gar closed his eyes and thought back to when the Realms had been one, before he'd broken the magic. Before he’d broken his own magic.

He could feel a distinct pull to the north, as well. He knew what was causing it -- his Protector bindings were still intact, and that’s where Molly was. If he had a medallion like normal Protectors did, he would have been able to tell exactly where she was and possibly even who was with her. But he didn’t, because he wasn’t a normal Protector.

“Stop thinking.” Vozun said irritably. 

Gar opened his eyes for the sole purpose of glaring at the other demon. “Why are you here?”

“Do you remember the Empire?”

Gar nodded, going back to looking out over the ocean. The less he had to look at the Soulstealer, the better. “It was a bloodbath.” He wasn’t exaggerating about that in the slightest -- most of the Emperors and Empresses had literally bathed in the blood of anyone who dared oppose them.

It was gross.

“Do you miss it?”

“Which part?” Being ordered to slaughter hundreds of people at a time? Being feared by the people he’d once sworn to protect with his life? Watching Snow’s undead body slowly rot and disintegrate, leaving him in the state he was today? Realizing he’d forgotten the name he was given at birth, and that his only identity anymore was Garuku Bluemoon, the Demon Prince?

No, he didn’t miss that.

Having Snow manage to loosen the grip of the demon magic enough for him to actually be able to realize anything he’d done after breaking the magic? Even though it had only been a matter of months since he was turned?

He didn’t miss the pain of that, but he was glad it had happened.

There had been good things in that stretch of 500 years of the Empire (give or take a few decades). Learning how to jump through loopholes of the orders he was given. Realizing Snow was actually still around, that the combination of what the Lifeless had done to him in the battle and what Gar had done to counteract it had kept Snow from being sent to his medallion; that Gar didn’t have to call him back. At least, not yet.

Learning that his child had survived the slaughter of the rest of the royals, that his wife had lied and said a common illness had killed the toddler, giving one of her maids time to escape with them. Having Snow tell him the Guardians of the North had turned their attention to protecting Gar’s child, that, for hundreds of years, they kept the royal magic alive. Feeling the Realms form from what used to be a single stretch of magic. 

Waiting until a blue moon and then killing the entirety of the government of the Empire so the rebellion of the Realms could be successful, and then watching them become what they were today.

“I liked how they treated prisoners.”

Gar suppressed the shudder that ran through him at the memories. “I enjoyed watching the rebellions.” The hope and fire the rebels had always helped ground him in what he was doing.

“Of course. You were always the one sent out to squelch them. You must miss the action.”

Gar tilted his head, but said nothing. Maybe he had at one point, but certainly not recently. Now, he just missed being with his friends. He missed bantering with Pat, and watching JP try to figure out what in the world he was doing. He missed Dlive and Entoan. He missed Wade and Molly. He missed the simplicity that had come with being Molly’s Protector. He missed being able to move on with his life.

But Vozun expected an answer, so Gar chose his words carefully.

“There’s not much fun in fighting people who don’t have a chance. It’s much more enjoyable to fight someone who has the skill required to actually make it a challenge.” Gar glanced at Vozun as he spoke. He’d never enjoyed being sent out to stop rebellions and always did his best to let as many live as he could manage. It usually wasn't very many.

Vozun laughed. “You would say that. How many, across the time you’ve been stuck in this dimension, have even come close to equalling you? How many provided that exhilaration?”

Gar returned his gaze to the ocean. “Three.”

Well, that was a bit inaccurate. Snow could beat Gar -- he always had been able to. JP had gotten by because of Tapestry, though he certainly had a lot of promise. Perhaps one day JP would have that kind of skill, but not yet. As for the third... Gar was fairly sure that if Pat had been fully rested and not already injured, Pat would have been able to kill him. 

You didn’t end up being the Protector for one of the royals without having a lot of training.

Vozun laughed again, then fell silent for a long time. “How do the Protectors work? How do we kill them?”

“They’re highly trained guards.” That was common enough information. Vozun likely knew that already, though. “They stay with their nobles for their entire lives. Some are knights,” like Pat and Ohm, “but most aren't.”

“Why are they all so powerful? All of them have magic.”

“All nobles have magic. It helps balance the relationship.”

“Then why doesn’t Prince Barnes’ Protector have magic?”

“Lord Barnes has healing magic. They might have decided that since he couldn’t accidentally hurt anyone with it, Protector Static being without magic would work just fine.”

Now as long as Vozun didn’t realize Gar was lying, Wade and Pat would have another layer of protection over their secrets. Which was good, because those secrets kept them -- and the kingdom -- safe.

But even if Vozun did realize Gar was lying, Vozun wouldn’t be able to tell anything about Pat’s magic. Which was almost as good.

But, really, it was much safer if Vozun thought like the entire kingdom -- that Pat didn’t have any magic of any kind.

“What is it like, being a Protector?” Vozun’s question sounded innocent enough, but Gar knew him well enough by now to know what the Soulstealer was really asking.  _ What were the common weaknesses all Protectors have? _ And Gar knew the answer to that -- they were still mortal (mostly), they could still die, they were incredibly loyal to their nobles, they were frequently recognized on sight... there were any number of things. And, worse  _ Can we undo the Protector bindings on you? _

“As I said before. It’s being a highly trained bodyguard.”

“That’s all?”

No. “That’s their primary function.” The less Vozun knew about Protectors, the better. And it wasn’t like the Soulstealer could just go around asking others. Protectors, as a whole, were some of the best kept secrets of the entire kingdom. 

“Where are they trained?”

“I have no idea.” This was true. Snow knew -- he’d trained there -- but he’d never told Gar, saying it was knowledge only for the ruling nobility. Likely somewhere in the northern half of the kingdom, where it was much more difficult to get to during a war, but Gar couldn’t be sure of that. 

Vozun gave him a suspicious look. 

Gar shrugged. “Look, nobody ever told me. Even if they had, they probably would have moved it by now. I can’t give you information I don’t have.”

Vozun nodded. “Alright. I believe you. You wouldn’t lie to me, brother.”

Gar gave a brief nod, forcing himself to not shudder at being called the Soulstealer’s brother.

“The Baroness wants us back by midnight.” Vozun grinned. “She has plans.”

“Go ahead and go back now.” Gar glanced at the other demon prince, then returned to looking out over the ocean. The sun was almost completely set now, with only a sliver of orange peeking over the horizon. The light of the moons was glittering on the surface, gold and silver and blue. “I have some more thinking to do.”

“You think too much.” 

“One of us has to.”

Vozun threw his head back and laughed. “There’s no need for thinking when we’ve got orders.”

Gar simply returned his attention to the ocean, leaving the Soulstealer to teleport back to Suzerain to sweet talk the Baroness. 

It was nearly an hour before he felt a familiar presence approach him. 

‘dangerous conversation’ Snow observed, coming to stand next to Gar.

Gar glanced at him. “I can’t exactly avoid answering the questions.”

‘i know’ Snow stirred, nearly invisible in the darkness. ‘the kingdom is preparing for a wedding between nobles. next week, on the equinox’

Gar raised his eyebrow. “Oh? Who?” There weren’t all that many unmarried nobles.

‘jp and brycelyn’

Gar raised his other eyebrow. “Why them?”

‘you’d know better than i’ Snow seemed to shrug. Well, at least, as much as he could shrug without actually having a body. ‘the king did get his hands on a copy of the prophecies, though’

“Finally.”

Snow made some sound of at least moderate agreement. ‘you know, i would like my body back’

“I can’t call you back without your medallion.” Gar sighed. “Besides, who would trust you then?”

‘you’re going to need me in a physical form when everything finally goes down’ Snow warned. Then he hesitated, then sighed. ‘i’m starting to fade’

Gar looked over in surprise, then really looked at Snow. 

The magic keeping Snow as an undead shade was beginning to unravel. 

‘it won’t be long, i know that’ Snow shook his head. ‘not long enough, anyway. maybe a year’ He paused, and Gar could have sworn Snow made a face. ‘not that finishing dying is going to be any better’

Gar sighed. “I’m sorry.”

‘yeah, well, at least being able to wander around for the past 1000 years was something. if you’d let me fully die during the blood moon, i wouldn’t have been able to move much’

“I thought you could appear briefly.”

‘yeah, for like five minutes’ Snow paused again. ‘i’ve been speaking to some of the protectors for nobles around now. specifically felix. he hasn’t responded, of course, but i’ve still been talking to him. it feels like it helps keep him sane. have to hide whenever the last few trainees wander through the area -- which, if you were wondering, is a place they’re not supposed to go -- so they don’t get scared. don’t want to give them unrealistic expectations for their futures.’

“There are still trainees there?” Gar blinked. That meant there were still nobles who hadn’t been given their Protectors. “How many?”

‘five. only two of them have been claimed.’

Gar looked over curiously. As far as he knew, Molly’s natural Protector was still alive and simply hadn’t ever been bound to her.

‘the oldest is pretty old for being a trainee. about 21, probably.’

Too young to be Molly’s natural Protector. “What happened to Molly’s natural Protector?”

‘she died. i don’t know how. nobody will tell me’

Gar nodded, sighing. “Is King Barnes on board with the plan?”

‘no idea. i haven’t talked to him yet’ Snow shrugged. ‘ohmwrecker isn’t one i’d like to startle, even for such an important conversation. there’s a definite reason he took that to be his protector name’

Protector names. Most Protectors simply used the ones they were given at birth, but for the ones guarding the royals, they took a different name. Yet another layer of protection -- you couldn’t possess them without their birth names, you couldn’t control them through magic.

It almost made Gar wonder what Pat’s real name was. It had the same kind of feel to it as “Ohmwrecker” did, which made it even more likely that “PatrckStatic” was definitely Pat’s Protector name and not his real one.

“Make sure to talk to him soon. It’s not something that can really be delayed if it’s going to work.”

‘oh, i know’ Snow grumbled ‘i know. but when ohm blasts me into the ocean, don’t say i didn’t warn you’


	46. Wedding Bells

Spring had fully come to the Realms. Flowers were everywhere, birds sang, sunlight streamed through every window, and the air was nice and crisp.

The perfect day for a wedding.

Dan leaned back in his chair and watched JP pace the length of the main room of the Seventh Realm quarters for a few minutes, thinking back to when he and Phil had gotten married.

Most of the details were pretty foggy, thanks to damaged memories. But Dan remembered some. It had been cold, almost winter. Phil had refused to do the traditional wedding kiss, instead kissing Dan's forehead.

17-year-old Dan had been very appreciative of that.

“What if she says no?” JP looked up, worry worn on his face.

“Then you'll be embarrassed and everything will be awkward.” Dan shrugged. “She’ll say yes, though.”

“But we haven't had the chance to talk about anything properly.” JP frowned. “And Cry’s not here to give her away. It feels wrong without him here.”

Cry had detoured to Quintal before heading back to Primus, probably on orders from Josh. He was supposed to arrive the night before, but it was now decently early morning of the equinox.

Dan sighed. It was way too early for this. “He'll be arriving within the hour. He'll be there.”

JP took a deep breath and nodded. “How are you so calm?”

“I'm not the one getting married today.” Dan grinned. “I don't have to worry about it at all.”

JP made a soft whimpering sound.

Dan stood. Why he'd agreed to help JP get ready instead of leaving it to Phil, he didn't know, but here he was, actually doing things only three hours after sunrise. “Let's start getting you dressed. That might help ease your nerves.”

JP nodded.

“While you pull on the basics, I'm going to go check on the ladies, and make sure everything is getting set up.”

Everything had been set up the night before, so Dan knew that was okay. He just needed an excuse to be out longer. He would go crazy if he had to witness JP pacing any longer.

“Oh, and don't put on your sword belt yet. Trust me on that one.” With that, Dan ducked out of the room and walked down the hall to the Fifth Realm quarters. There, he knocked quietly on the door.

“Who is it?” Amanda called.

“Dan.”

A pause, then the door opened. Tabitha grinned at him, then walked away from the door and began playing with Luna.

Dan stepped inside, letting the door drift closed behind him.

“We're in here.” Amanda's voice came from one of the bedrooms.

Dan walked over to see her with her fingers in Brycelyn's hair, twisting it into a beautiful plait. Brycelyn herself was wearing the simple base dress that would ultimately become her full wedding dress.

“Do you think he'll like it?” Brycelyn asked, glancing at Dan. “My hair, I mean.”

“He liked it when you were on the run from the Demon Prince.” Dan said. Wait, no, that was a bad thing to say. “I'm sure he'll be absolutely smitten by this.” There, he'd saved it. Smooth.

Brycelyn looked at her reflection. “I hope so.”

She was already wearing a necklace, Dan noticed. A golden chain with a beautifully set fire opal as a pendant. How JP had made it, Dan wasn't sure, but he'd done a good job. He'd added some enchantments to it for sure, but Dan didn't know what those were either.

“Cry will be arriving within an hour.” Dan leaned in the doorframe, settling his gaze on Dante sleeping on the floor. Lucky pup. 

Brycelyn grinned.

“He's going to be terribly sweaty and gross from traveling so hard, so he's going to need to use the bath. I suspect you'll want to use the Seventh Realm quarters tonight, just so you don't hear him snoring when he inevitably falls asleep.”

“Dan.” Amanda protested. 

“I'm just pointing it out.” Dan looked at the freshly cut flowers sitting in water on the dressing table. “Brycelyn, you’re going to absolutely blow his mind with how good you're going to look.”

Brycelyn grinned at him in the mirror. Then she paused. “What are you wearing?”

Dan brushed a flower out of his face. “Darcy has been making flower crowns for everyone. I couldn't bring myself to take it off until I have to. Can't outshine the bride.”

“How has she been handling it here?” Amanda asked.

“She's doing better now that she's gotten used to it all. Still misses Louise.”

“Poor girl.”

Dan nodded. “You look amazing already, Brycelyn. I'll have to make sure JP looks like he didn't dress himself if he's even got a chance at looking acceptable.”

“Is he doing okay?” Brycelyn frowned some in the mirror.

“He's struggling with his hip a little, but not a ton.”

Brycelyn nodded, her frown fading.

\-----

“I want to see her.” JP said, bouncing impatiently on his toes. It must have been painful, because he winced, but Dan wasn't sure if it was because of his leg or because he was wearing armor as part of his outfit.

Dan handed JP his cloak, the one Brycelyn had made for him. “You can't. It's bad luck.”

JP’s hands were shaking so badly as he went to fasten in on that he dropped the broach three times before Dan grabbed it and pinned it for him. Then he smoothed it over JP's shoulders and gave him a really long look. “You've grown up a lot since we first met.” 16-year-old JP had been a handful.

JP looked at Dan, trembling slightly. “I don't feel grown up.”

“You'll be fine.”

JP took a deep breath and looked at himself in the mirror. “Wow. I look good.”

He did. He actually fit his armor and uniform well, and didn't look quite so much like he was all arms and legs anymore. He didn't look super confident, but that was easily fixed by having JP straighten his shoulders.

“You look like a Lord.” Dan smiled at him. Then he paused. “You know, Wade is proud of you. And your parents would be, too.”

JP grinned.

\-----

There was only an hour to the wedding when Cry arrived at the palace. Brycelyn was busy in the Fifth Realm quarters, so Cry crashed in the Seventh Realm quarters instead. 

Dan had never seen someone bathe and get dressed so quickly, especially in the formal uniform all the nobility were wearing. He himself was still putting on the last piece of his outfit -- including some armor -- by the time Cry was done. At least, you know, all the parts that could be put on without help.

A tiny sound of delight squeaked, and Pillow scrambled towards Cry amazingly quickly for not having any arms.

“Hey there.” Cry scooped it up. “You've gotten bigger. That's good.”

Pillow leaned its head against Cry's mask.

“Are you coming to the wedding?”

Pillow nodded enthusiastically.

“Excellent.” Cry set the Sup Guy down. “I've got to finish getting ready and get my sister. I'll see you there.”

Pillow nodded.

\-----

The second Cry stepped inside the quarters for the Fifth Realm, Dan a step behind, Brycelyn gasped. Then Cry's arms were around her, and the two were just hugging each other tightly.

“I'm so glad you made it.” Brycelyn said.

“I'm glad you're safe.” Cry murmured, letting go to put his hands on her shoulders and look over her. “You look like a princess. Mom would be proud.”

Dan backed up. The two clearly needed to just talk without any interruption.

\-----

The wedding itself was small, with only the nobility and Protectors and Royal Guard in attendance. Pillow was the ring bearer, somehow, with Dante as an escort. Josh, as King, officiated.

Dan could have sworn Cry's mask changed a little bit, the mouth curling into a smile, but it was gone the next time he looked.

Celebrations apparently ran across the entire kingdom, even the Fourth and Seventh Realms joining in where they could. 

The celebration the nobles had was again small, closed off to outsiders. That was good. Dan didn’t particularly want to interact with a bunch of strangers today.

And then Ohm and Minx stepped in front of Josh and Princess McLoughlin and JP and Brycleyn, respectively. Murmurs ran around the room, and all the Protectors and half the nobles had their weapons drawn.

The Demon Prince, looking as human as he ever had when he'd just been known as Gar, held up one hand in the place where he’d simply appeared. The other was holding Luna. “I'm unarmed, and I'm not going to use magic of any kind.”

Phil stepped a little in front of Dan, as if ready to protect him should the Demon Prince attack. 

Josh nodded to Minx, who stepped over to Gar and took Luna (Gar willingly handed the toddler over) before searching him. Then she nodded. 

“He's clean of weapons.”

“Why are you here?” Josh finally asked.

“I --”

Borks sounded, and Dante scampered to Gar, who grinned and scooped him up and just hugged him for a moment. “Hello Dante. You don't need to bark, everything's okay.”

Dante borked a few more times anyway.

“Dante.” Gar shook his head and set the corgi down. Then he looked back at the nobles. “I came to give a gift to the newlyweds.”

“As a demon?” Minx asked, shifting her sword slightly. Dan got the feeling if Gar made even one wrong move, Minx would have him impaled before Dan could even step backwards.

“I can't really change that.” Gar’s gaze was unwavering. “But as a friend, not an enemy.”

Silence reigned the room for a long minute, during which Dan took a sip of his drink (if he was going to die today, he wanted to be as out of it as possible).

Brycelyn stepped forward, JP's hand in hers. “Alright.”

Dan paused, debating if he should watch what was going to happen or if he should see how drunk he could get in five seconds flat.

“Okay, so call me a spoilsport, but he’s completely clean.” Minx shook her head. “Where’s he going to pull a gift from?”

Gar dipped his head. “Third windowsill on the left.”

Dan glanced at said windowsill, only to see something glittering in the sunlight.

A dagger.

JP walked over and picked it up, turning it over in his hands as he walked back to Brycelyn before handing it to her to inspect. “It’s pretty.”

Gar dipped his head again, a smile spreading across his face.

“That’s an unusual wedding gift.” Minx murmured, still holding her sword in prime stabbing position.

Gar shrugged slightly, clasping his hands behind his back. “It’s an unusual circumstance for a wedding.” He tilted his head, gaze flicking to Dan.

Dan looked at the dagger in Brycelyn’s hands. Now that it was closer, he could see it a lot better.

“Why a dagger, though?” Minx seemed unsure if she should continue questioning Gar as he stood in front of her.

“Oh, it’s not any dagger.” Gar’s smile faded. “It’s a lot more than that.”

Dan suddenly had the very uncomfortable feeling he knew what that dagger was.

“Keep it close.” Gar nodded at the dagger. “It’s the pair to Tapestry.”

And then he was gone, leaving empty space and silence where he once was.

“The pair to an already magical sword?” MatPat shoved his own sword back into its scabbard. “Why would he give that to you?”

“Why did he look at Dan?” Minx asked.

Dan looked at the dagger in Brycelyn’s hands once more, even as she handed it back to JP. 

And then he swore.


	47. Plans of a Thousand Years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are discussions about someone who isn't planning on making out of the war alive, so be warned about that if you need to.

The Seventh Realm quarters were comfortably warm, but Cry didn’t know if that was because of the small fire going in the fireplace in the main room, or because they’d managed to cram eight of them in the room -- Josh, Ohm, Dan, Phil, PJ, Cry, JP, and Brycelyn.

JP leaned forward, picking up the dagger from the table. “Okay. What’s so important about this?”

“He said it was the pair to Tapestry.” Brycelyn laid the sword across her lap. “What does that mean?”

“It means that while Tapestry belonged to Gar, long ago, that dagger belonged to Snow.” Josh sighed, leaning back in his chair. He kept glancing at Ohm, like the two of them were communicating without actually saying anything out loud. “It’s probably just as magical, but I have no idea what it does.”

“Why would he give that as a gift?” Cry leaned forward, putting his elbow on his knees. “Wouldn’t he have to ask Snow about that?” He barely knew who Snow was, thanks to the rushed conversation Dan had had with him after the wedding celebration had ended only a few hours earlier.

JP opened his mouth to speak, but Ohm’s head whipped around to face something in the corner.

‘he did’

The words were whispered, barely audible, and yet they shook Cry to his very core.

Cry slowly turned to see a form made of shadows walking towards them.

“Hello Snow. You could have knocked.” JP said.

The shade lifted his hands, which were also made of shadow, and looked at them, then just looked at JP. ‘that would be impressive, now wouldn’t it’

JP smiled slightly.

Snow turned to Ohm. ‘long time, no see. did you get tired of sneaking inside the halls of the dead?’

PJ’s eyebrow slid upwards, and he gave Ohm an incredulous look. “You snuck inside the Halls of the Dead.”

“Why would I do that?” Ohm shrugged. “They’re off limits for a reason.”

‘yeah. they are. so you don’t end up talking to me’ 

Cry could have sworn the shade rolled his eyes. It was interesting, encountering someone else without facial expressions.

“You three know each other?” Dan looked between the two Protectors and the shade.

PJ nodded. Snow nodded. After a long moment, Ohm nodded.

‘with nothing much to do in the first few hundred years of gar being a demon, i went and bothered trainee protectors’ Snow almost seemed to glide as he finished approaching the group. ‘it got to be habit. besides, it’s fun to scare the more stubborn ones’

PJ crossed his arms.

Snow chuckled again.

“It was Pat’s fault.” PJ finally muttered. “He was in on it.”

‘of course he was. he found me when he was seven and wouldn’t stop asking questions’ Snow paused, and then definitely looked at Cry. ‘he was the one who dared others to come into the halls. most didn’t stick around long enough to see me, but the two that did got downright terrified’

“Felix has always been gutsier than I am.” PJ shrugged. “Though he screamed just as much.”

Not for the first time, Cry was glad for the protection his mask gave him, keeping others from seeing his expressions. What was PJ saying? He’d known the two Protectors had trained together, but... he didn’t know what they were talking about. He knew why they were talking about Felix in the present tense, yes, but what was this about Patrck daring other Protectors to do something they weren’t supposed to?

‘in any case, the dagger is enchanted’ Snow turned back to the group. ‘you’re going to need it. it’s not as picky as tapestry, but i didn’t use it to break the magic of the Kingdom, so that probably explains things’

“What are they going to need it for?” Josh slowly asked.

A long silence, then a sigh. ‘okay, look. there’s a convergence in just over three years.’ Snow crossed his arms, which was difficult to see since Cry could actually see through him. ‘there are five trainees still. two of them are about eight, but the other three have either been already claimed or it’s pretty obvious who they’re supposed to protect’ Snow pointed at JP. ‘he’s one of them -- trust me, i checked’

Josh raised his eyebrows. “They said the remaining trainees died. I got a message about it just before we found out about JP.”

Snow cursed. ‘of course they’re going to say that, they know what’s going to happen as well as i do’ Snow shook his head, crossing his arms again. ‘the demons will be here for the convergence. and by that i don’t just mean the first realm. i mean here. the deep basement, specifically. you will need every noble you have here. in the deep basement. or the soulstealer will drain the magic out of the kingdom. gar can’t stop him a second time, not without help. not without healing the magic’ 

JP tapped the dagger against his fingernails. “The deep basement means the heart of the magic, doesn't it?”

Snow nodded.

Cry leaned back in his chair halfway, fidgeting with the edge of his cloak slightly. 

“Okay. And how is this dagger supposed to help with any of this?” JP lifted the dagger some, causing the blade to glitter and sparkle, almost like it had been coated in a thin sheen of frost.

‘the soulstealer is going to drop as much magic and as many demons as he can on the night of the convergence. he’ll break and absorb any magic he can get his hands on. the only reason he hasn’t absorbed the magic from the fourth realm yet is because of lady faye’ Snow turned to Josh and Ohm. ‘he  _ will _ kill any and every noble he gets his hands on, and normal weapons aren’t going to deter him. you’re going to need protector magic to keep everyone safe’

Josh sighed and put his head in his hands. “And where is the Demon Prince in all this?”

‘the soulstealer has stronger magic. if he orders something, gar will have to follow those orders. he’ll do whatever he can to help, but his hands are tied’

“Didn’t he used to be a prince for here?” Phil finally asked. “Why doesn’t the magic of the land help him?”

‘it’s broken’ Snow didn’t break from staring down Josh. ‘and it’s changed a lot since he was a prince. besides...’ Snow sighed ‘it wouldn’t do him much good to fight the orders when he’s expecting to end up dead by the end of all of this’

“He’s a demon. He’d just come back.” Dan said.

Snow shook his head, now going to look at Dan. ‘for nearly a thousand years, he’s been planning on how to repair the magic’

Oh. Cry dropped the edge of his cloak and sat up straight. Snow couldn’t be saying what Cry thought Snow was saying, could he?

‘it’s going to take blood magic to repair the magic, royal blood specifically. and gar knows as well as i do that he’s going to be the one least missed out of everyone. and even among demons, when you do blood magic, you can permanently die from it. and if it’s not his royalness here,’ Snow gestured to Josh, ‘then it has to be the heir, the current lord of the seventh realm. and you don’t know gar as well as i do, but i’m pretty sure you can guess what he thinks of that. you can guess what he’s planning to do’


	48. Everything Will Be Different from Now On

The warm air of summer was fading by the time the healers said Wade and Pat could travel safely and, more importantly, start getting back in practice with their weapons. Although, he still received a thorough warning to avoid pushing himself too much. That made Jack laugh.

“What do they think I’m going to be doing?” Wade complained as the two of them walked outside to the training grounds, where Pat was waiting.

Jack threw a grin at Wade. “Do you remember the last time you were here and got hurt?”

Wade put on an innocent face. “Yes.”

Jack shook his head and laughed. “Then you know why.” His smile faded. “Plus, you know, there’s the war and all, and you want to get back to helping in it.”

“Of course I do.” Wade frowned. “I should be helping, protecting people.” He sighed. “And after what happened to the Seventh Realm, I can’t help but feel like I’m failing in my duties.”

Jack patted Wade on the shoulder. “You have more responsibilities than just to defend the Seventh Realm. Considering your brother hasn’t had any kids in the year and a half since the wedding, you’re still the only person who can take the throne if something happens to him. Staying alive is good.”

“That’s what Pat said, and I know that, but it doesn’t feel right.”

“You love your people too much for it feel right.” Jack shrugged as they stepped outside.

The outer walls of the palace had finally been cleared of construction equipment, and while the city itself was still being repaired, it looked a lot better.

Soldiers were training in the yard, pushing themselves. Jack let his gaze linger over them for a minute, getting nods and waves from the trainers, then nodded. “We’ll be ready to send the first of the aid to the Realms before the passes close. Then the next batch will be in spring. After that, I don’t know.” Jack sighed. “It’s not much, but I hope it’s enough.”

“Anything helps.”

Jack nodded, but seemed distant, like he was contemplating some host of problems. At least it wasn’t as bad as it had been right when Jack had first become king of Bossatron, or when he was still learning how to subdue Anti. He was getting the hang of being in charge of an entire country.

Jack suddenly looked over at Wade, grinning brightly. “Since you’ve barely even touched your sword in the year since you got hurt,” (this was true, Wade had only picked it up to take care of it), “I’m better than you are at fighting.”

Wade rolled his eyes. “That’s not fair.”

Jack laughed. “Of course it’s not. Why would I want it to be fair between us?”

Wade just shook his head.

“Oh, he just takes it in stride when you say it.” Pat laughed, walking up to them. “But when  _ I _ say it, he gives me that look.”

“You’ve always been better than I am, though.” Wade pointed out. “It’s not fair when I’m on the losing end.”

Pat raised his eyebrows. “Sure.”

“It’s not.”

“Mmhmm.” Pat held out Wade’s sword to him. “Let’s see if you remember the drills we taught JP.”

“You’re not even going to argue with him over it?” Jack asked.

Pat shrugged. “We’ll work it out. Once he can actually fight again, that is.”

_ “Patrck!” _ Wade complained.

Pat chuckled.

\-----

Cry’s wedding was quiet, just as private as JP and Brycelyn’s, but it took place in the Fifth Realm instead of in Primus. Cry wanted to make sure the citizens of the Fifth Realm saw the good in it.

“Well, that’s done.” Ken brushed his hands as the sounds of the city celebrating faded in the night. “Went a lot better than I expected.”

“People are fond of Cry.” Brycelyn said, looking out over the fortress wall to the city below. “And in times like these, having a Lady helps people breathe easier.”

“I wonder where we’re going to end up.” JP murmured, glancing at Snow, who was lingering in the darkness of the courtyard below. They weren’t stopping in Quintal. No, Snow was going to take them much further, to the Guardians of the North.

“After this is all over?” Brycelyn set one hand on the wall, sighing. “That depends who’s alive.”

There was more than one reason Josh was sending them to the Guardians, and while the first sounded impressive and heroic—convincing the Guardians to let them take the medallions for Felix and Snow so they could bring them back to full life and better defend the kingdom—the second was significantly less so. 

It was to keep them alive so, even if every single other noble was slaughtered, the people would have someone to look to for guidance as the world slowly died. It wouldn’t matter that neither of them had royal magic; if the others failed, there wouldn’t be any magic left.

JP didn’t like that idea, but he couldn’t do anything about his orders.

Ken made a sound, as if he’d started to say something and changed his mind, and JP looked over at him.

Ken sighed. “I think everyone would rest easier if we knew we were getting an heir to the throne. I have nothing against Lord Barnes, but he would have to marry for strength for the kingdom, and I get the feeling that means he’d have to marry outside the kingdom.”

“He’ll do what he needs to do.” JP said, though the thought of Molly and Wade being forced to marry different people made him sad.

“Oh, I know. He’s well aware of his duty, and he’ll do anything for the kingdom.” Ken leaned on the edge of the wall, looking over the city himself. “But if you look through history, the kingdom always does better when the royalty are happy. So he’ll manage, but he won’t really be happy. At least, not as happy as he could be. And the kingdom won’t do as well as it could.”

“You sound like you’re expecting Josh to die.”

Ken took a long, deep breath. “I overheard Cry telling Chey that Josh was planning on doing something with the magic of the entire kingdom. Using the magic of the Fifth Realm alone wiped Cry out for well over a week, just from one thing. The kingdom is so much bigger than a single Realm.” Ken shook his head.

“I don’t think he’s planning on dying.” JP said. 

No, Josh wasn’t planning on dying, even to heal the magic—because that’s the level of blood magic required, enough to kill someone. He didn’t need to. Gar was planning on it.

“Nobody ever does.” Ken sighed. “Nobody ever does.”

\-----

Molly looked over Septimal once again, aching at what she saw. The city was almost completely destroyed. The docks were gone. Bodies lay piled in the streets.

“We can’t hold the city any longer.” Molly said the words quietly, but she knew Bob heard them. “Not without losing too many people.” 

“Most everyone has already run.” Bob said just as quietly. 

This was true. Marie and Mandy and Nin had all already left, taking everyone willing to leave with them. Molly and Bob had stayed behind with the army.

Molly nodded. “Call the retreat.” She pulled her cloak around her; the air was definitely getting chilly again. “Let’s get out as fast as we can.”

“Is it too much to ask for King Fischbach to send help?” Bob grumbled. “He helped find Wade.”

“Finding Wade didn’t risk his entire country getting involved in a war against someone who doesn’t mind using demons.” Molly turned and walked away from the balcony railing. “And he’s not required to by treaty.”

“Does he know the stakes?”

“Of course not.” Molly shook her head. “We’re not even really entirely sure of them, and we’re the ones fighting the war.”

\-----

The battle had been going so well. Dan and Phil, having returned to the Third Realm to attend to the fighting going on there (after leaving Dil in Primus for safety), had managed to keep the protection spells up. As a result, all but the most powerful demons were being kept out of the Realm.

That didn’t stop the human soldiers, though.

They’d lost two of the major coast cities already, and here, on the rolling hills in the middle of the Realm, they were losing ground. Sure, Dan and Phil knew the area, and the locals were more than willing to help, and they had the Avaliera soldiers, but there was only so much you could do.

Dan had been separated from Phil and PJ in the fighting.

He realized this very suddenly, even with blood trickling down the side of his face from one of his numerous injuries—none of them were debilitating, not just yet, but he was definitely going to end up in the healers’ tents by the end of this.

He whirled, trying desperately to spot Phil in the chaos. Or PJ, because he would be next to Phil.

There. Dan couldn’t see PJ, but there was Phil.

Phil darted next to a struggling soldier, pushing the attacker back. 

Then a terrifying  _ crunch _ , and the magic of the Third Realm shuddered. It was like a boulder had dropped on Dan’s shoulders, sending him staggering as he ran as fast as he could towards Phil.

Towards Phil, who dropped, a heavy bolt embedded in his breastplate.


	49. Dan Without Phil

Dan barely made it to Phil before the magic of the Third Realm began to scream, before it felt like his entire being was being split in half.

Dan crashed down on the dirt (which was quickly becoming mud from all the blood) next to Phil.

Phil wheezed, breath rattling from somewhere deep inside him.

No.

Dan grabbed Phil’s hand and slammed every ounce of energy he could spare into Phil.

“Don’t leave me.”

The only response was Phil spluttering blood.

He was drowning in his own blood, Dan realized.

Dan rolled Phil onto his side, allowing the blood to drain out of his mouth and throat, scanning the area desperately for PJ, only to see him get hit by another one of the heavy bolts and roll to be still in the grass. He seemed to still be breathing, though.

Dan cursed, grabbing his dagger from his belt with his right hand, keeping his left on Phil. Keeping his song from fading.

But Phil’s song was fading anyway, fading fast.

“This is going to hurt.” Dan warned before bringing his dagger down as hard as he could on the shaft of the arrow.

Phil screamed, even through the blood filling his lungs, and jerked once before falling completely still. The arrow shaft snapped though, leaving maybe only an inch poking out from Phil’s armor.

Dan focused on Phil’s song. It was still there. So he was only unconscious. But he was fading even faster now.

Dan pulled the magic of the Realm around him and Phil, then let it fall through them. Instantly, soldiers rallied around them, forming a frantic shield from the fighting.

Dan scooped up Phil, gasping for air at the exertion that required. Right. Both he and Phil were wearing armor. Dan’s armor alone was close to sixty pounds.

How had he run in it?

No, not the time for that. Dan looked around. He needed a healer.

Phil’s song faded some more, and Dan made a decision.

Dan ran for the back lines, pouring as much of his own energy into Phil as he could. 

Every time he glanced down, Phil was a little grayer, and more blood was coating Phil’s chestplate and Dan’s chestplate and Dan’s arms and Dan’s hands and oh there was  _ so  _ much blood.

Even occupied with Phil, Dan didn’t miss the audible tremor that ran through the army as he darted back. He was sure it was his own hearing, a side effect of not getting enough air to properly function (he was definitely starting to see spots in his own vision). At least, until he heard the cry of “THE LORDS HAVE BEEN INJURED!”

Dan barely made it to the first healers’ tent before he crumpled, curling around Phil as he fell so the arrow wouldn’t be driven farther into Phil’s body. Instantly, hands were pulling him, tugging at his armor,  _ taking him away from Phil. _

“It’s no use, Lord Howell.” One of the healers said. “He doesn’t have the strength to survive the removal of the arrow.”

Dan yanked out of the grasp of the other three healers, stumbling over to Phil. “Try.”

“Lord Howell-”

“That’s an order.” Dan wasn’t even sure they could hear him; they sounded so far away to him right now. He’d forgotten he was injured himself.

“Yes, milord.” 

Dan could hear the first healer giving the other three orders (one of them started pulling off Dan’s armor, probably to try and treat his wounds), but instead unfastened the gauntlet on his left hand as quickly as he possibly could before reaching over and did the same to Phil’s left hand.

And then he closed his eyes and jumped inside the faint song that was Phil. 

He wasn’t surprised to find he knew the tune by now. He wasn’t surprised to find Phil’s magic curling around him, as if giving him a friendly hello. He wasn’t surprised to find Phil dying.

Dan sang, sending as much healing into Phil as he could.

Dan sang about everything he could remember that the two of them had shared. He sang about the first time they met. He sang about Phil helping him acclimatize to Triol. He sang about being introduced to court and meeting the other nobles for the first time, and how his only refuge had been Phil. He sang about the tour they’d done around the entire Realm. He sang about the Realm, about how much both of them loved it, how Phil had turned it into Dan’s home more than Armir had ever been. 

He sang until the world faded.

\-----

Dan woke to silence. Silence and pain and heavy weight was all around him.

Phil. 

Dan tried to push himself up, only to have absolute agony course through him. He must have made some sort of sound, because hands pressed him down.

“You’re in no condition to move, Lord Howell.” The healer who said that gave Dan a look that just dared Dan to argue with her.

“Phil.” Dan reached for his magic, only for it to respond sluggishly before falling still. “I have to listen to him.”

A cool hand rested on his forehead, and the healer frowned, even as Dan struggled against her and the weight pinning him to whatever surface he was laying on. “His fever has worsened. The infection must have spread.”

“Where’s Phil?” Forget his own injuries, Dan needed to know where Phil was. He needed to see. Dan tried to escape the hand resting on his chest, only to have the healer pin him down. No. He needed to make sure Phil was alright.  _ “Where’s Phil?” _

“I need help!” The healer glanced over her shoulder, expression growing more urgent as Dan tried to escape her. 

He had to find Phil.

“Let me see him!” Dan twisted as hard as he could. And while the healer didn't let go of him, he did manage to roll.

Pain shot through him as he landed on the floor, even worse than what he'd felt when the cities were burning.

Dan ignored it, ignored the panicked shouts of the healer, ignored his body screaming at him, ignored how badly he was panting for air, and crawled. He didn't know where Phil was, but he would find him.

Someone grabbed him, hauled him up.

“Where's Phil?” Dan's voice cracked this time. Why weren't they telling him? 

Did that mean..?

No.

_ “PHIL!”  _ Dan fought the healers, trying to reach someone he couldn't see.

“Lord Howell, calm down. Rest. You need all your strength.”

No.

Phil. Dan tried to say Phil’s name -- his best friend's name -- but his voice came out unintelligible. And then it came out a cough. And then the healers were forcing something down his throat.

And then nothing came out at all.

\-----

Dan couldn't open his eyes. He couldn't open his mouth to ask about Phil. His body was too heavy. He could barely even breathe.

Coolness splashed on his forehead and face, and he reveled in the relief it brought until the weight came back.

“He's not… any signs… improvement.” The voice was distant, a little distorted. 

A pause. Were they talking about him or Phil? Was Phil even still alive?

“... Message to Primus… Heir Dil.” Dan knew that voice. That was the voice of General Zombiemold. Why was he here? “We might… losing them both.”

Phil. How long had it been since he saw Phil? Since Dan had collapsed trying to save him. Did the magic know? Had they already buried Phil, then, with how Zombiemold was speaking?

Dan couldn't move his magic to find out. Everything was too heavy.

\-----

The world was heaviness and pain and fog again. The only reason Dan knew he was breathing was because fire shot through his chest every time he did.

“Where is Phil?” Dan tried to ask, only to have the words fall short, come out of his mouth as a groan.

Something was under Dan, making the world flop around. Was he being carried somewhere? Or was someone leaning on his bed?

Painfully cold air surrounded him, stripping away some of the fog and weight.

“... only option. … dying.” Zombiemold's voice said. 

“But, General-” Dan didn't know who that was.

“... do it myself.” Arms slid under Dan's back and knees, and then movement. 

Zombiemold would answer him, Dan was sure. “Where's Phil?” Except it came out a groan, and the only intelligible thing was a faint murmured “Phil.”

“Phil is… the ground… around him... Taking you there.”

No. No, Phil. 

Then Dan was being set down, cool ground under him and a cold form next to him. Someone set his left hand on another hand.

No.

Dan could feel a ring. A signet ring, identical to his, cat whiskers ready to be pressed into wax to show approval of orders. 

No. Anyone but Phil.

Dan's magic stirred, and he grabbed onto it. He had to know for sure.

So he listened to the cold form of Phil next to him, listened for even the faintest stirring of life energy.

He listened until the world faded.


	50. The Guardians of the North

JP was awful at being a noble, but he was decently good at starting campfires. Which was good, because it was difficult to cook any of the animals Snow hunted without one. (JP didn't know how Snow hunted, seeing as he didn't have a body, but he wasn’t about to question it.) 

And, seeing as he and Brycelyn, following Snow’s directions, had crossed into what used to be the Seventh Realm, it was very dangerous to use magic.

“I want a winter inside. Where it's warm. And not soggy.” JP grumbled. This was his third one in a row where he was out in the elements.

Brycelyn laughed softly.

Traveling north wouldn't be so bad if they'd been able to take horses. But since the Seventh Realm had been pretty much abandoned (not entirely, there were still strongholds, but they were few and far between) and overrun by demons, traveling carefully was the order.

JP had very deliberately stuck to back roads, trails far from civilization. He didn't want to see the destruction that followed demons everywhere. Not across his home.

Brycelyn's cloak—well, the cloak she’d made for JP—was extremely warm, though, and JP was grateful for that. Especially at night, when they stopped to sleep.

Snow proved to be absolutely invaluable as the weeks went on. He didn't need sleep, he didn't need food, he didn't suffer injuries, and he had a sense of humor. Of some kind.

As for Snow's dagger, it turned out to be really good for sensing weather and incoming storms. And when the dagger said there were going to be three weeks of rain, JP knew spring was coming.

Spring was almost in swing by the time they reached the northern border of the Realm. They were deep in the forests by now, and navigating with a horse would have been almost impossible.

JP pulled himself over another log, groaning at the pain it caused his hip. It had been well over two years since the injury and the pain hadn’t left. He was almost certainly permanently stuck with it, then. Which was sad.

‘we’re almost there’ Snow said patiently. 

JP sort of tumbled into the mud, even as Brycelyn came over to him and pulled him up. “How bad is it?”

JP rubbed his hip and winced. “Pretty bad.”

“Snow, he-” Brycelyn turned to look at Snow, but he wasn’t there.

“Snow?” JP asked. 

A soft sigh, and shadows from trees shifted slightly.

JP could actually see through Snow. In fact, Snow was barely there.

“What’s going on?” Brycelyn frowned.

‘i’ve been fading for almost a year’ Snow’s voice was barely audible, almost a whisper on a breeze ‘i won’t last long now. maybe an hour. i’d love to let you rest, but there simply isn’t time’

JP and Brycelyn looked at each other for a long minute, then nodded. JP didn’t know how he was going to walk, but he was going to walk.

JP didn’t remember a lot of that last hour, besides the pain, but he would forever remember the moment Snow simply vanished. In part, because Snow vanished (though he’d been harder and harder to see as the day had gone on), but mostly because giant walls, and giant closed gates with heavy doors behind them, appeared out of nowhere.

JP looked down the walls one way, and then the other. “These are the size of the ones surrounding the palace grounds.” He blinked, trying to wrap his head around it.

“It’s pretty big for remaining so hidden.” Brycelyn nodded. 

JP looked at the gates. “Do we just knock?”

Brycelyn shrugged.

So JP limped up to the door and knocked, falling against the door as pain shot up his side. Hopefully walking on his leg when it was hurting so badly hadn’t done permanent damage, but he had no way to tell. He didn’t have any kind of medical training.

Brycelyn’s arms went around him again, keeping him from completely collapsing. “We are supposed to be dignified here, on our mission from the King.”

“I can’t.” JP tried to stand, but his leg simply wouldn’t cooperate. “Dignity hurts.”

Brycelyn seemed to laugh at that. That was good. It meant that even though everything hurt, and life was sad, she was still okay. 

The door creaked open a bit, and a figure placed their hand on one of the thick iron bars of the gates. His gaze swept over them, just like his gray hair was swept back into a ponytail. His gaze seemed to linger on JP’s insignia (which of course he was wearing at the moment, they’d known they were going to reach the Guardians today) for a few seconds.

“It’s been a long time since any nobles visited here.” The man’s voice was low, rumbling almost. His hand dropped, and the gate started to raise. “We’ve been watching you for a while. Welcome, Heirs, to the Stronghold. I hope you know how to keep your mouth shut, because whatever you see in these walls must stay in these walls.”

\-----

JP and Brycelyn were led to a quiet building, where the man who had greeted them had them sit down. JP was sure there had been other buildings in the area, but he couldn’t really remember.

“We received King Barnes’ missive.” The man sat across from them, his back straight.

The chairs were soft. The room was warm. Almost instantly, the pain in JP’s hip eased. 

“We will do as he asks. You two will remain safely here for as long as you desire. There are a few rules we have to protect us, and you will need to follow them.” The man leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “Firstly, you will never go anywhere unattended. If the person with you prevents you from going some place, don’t argue. There are dangerous areas here, and I don’t want to upset the King by having you two end up dead from an accident.”

JP and Brycelyn nodded.

“Secondly, don’t interfere with any training going on.”

More nods.

“When the time comes for you to retrieve the medallions for Protectors Snow and Kjellberg, you will enter the Halls of the Dead and the Halls of the Living without a keeper or living guide of any kind. I will not risk the sanity of any of my people for this. That is your task, not mine.” The man leaned back in his chair. “Finally, while I cannot prevent the trainees from meeting you, or you from meeting them, the knowledge of who they are and how many of them there are will stay within these walls.”

He then stood. “Rest, both of you. In the morning, you’ll need to prepare. Tomorrow night, we will bind Heir Jeremiah to his Protector.”

\-----

“What do I need to do to prepare for this?” JP asked over breakfast the next morning.

Brycelyn smiled briefly. “It’s… complicated.” She sighed. “You’re going to feel very strange after the ceremony. Several nobles have described the feeling as someone else settling down inside their skin.” 

“Um.”

“It wasn’t that bad for me, but it was for Cry.” Brycelyn paused. “Clearly, he survived.” She shook her head. “Under normal circumstances, Wade would be guiding you through the preparation, and Pat would be guiding whoever is being bound to you tonight. As it is, I guess I’m going to guide you?” Brycelyn frowned. “I hope it works out.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great on your end.” JP said. “Now, what do I do first?”

“Meditation.”

JP paused. “I’m not very good at that.”

“Well, you’ve got to do it for three hours.” Brycelyn pushed back her chair and stood. “Let’s get you started.”


	51. Seven Oaths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter includes blood magic, which means the people doing it are cutting themselves.

“I don’t think it’s ever going to heal completely.” The healer stepped away from Wade’s shoulder: the one that had been injured twice before. “It’s as good as it’s going to get any time soon, at least.”

Wade rolled his shoulder, frowning at the ache it brought. “Thank you.”

The healer nodded, stepping out of the room.

Pat looked up from where he was leaning against the wall. “They got to the Guardians.”

Wade sighed. At least JP and Brycelyn would be safe for a while.

“They’re binding JP and Amile tonight.” Pat added, standing. 

“Amile?”

“Amile Crestwood.” Pat nodded, smiling softly. “She was just a little kid when I left to get bound to you, but she was a no-nonsense sort of person.”

Wade thought about that for a minute. “That'll be a more interesting pairing.”

Pat laughed. “No kidding.” Then he paused. “Do you remember the day we were bound? I was so nervous once I found out I was getting bound to one of the royals.”

“How could I forget?” Wade smiled at Pat. “First came the hours of meditation.”

“You say that, but we both know you didn't meditate the entire time.”

“What can I say? I was too nervous.”

\-----

Brycelyn had said this meditation was to help him focus himself. He didn't need to clear his mind. In fact, he needed to come up with all of his worries and just think.

He was worried about Dante and Pillow. The two had been left in Quintal with Cry. He was sure they would be safe.

He was worried about Brycelyn. He didn't want her to get hurt. He wanted her to be happy. He wanted to be happy with her—and he was. He didn't know what the future held for the two of them, but they could face it together.

He was worried about Wade and Pat. They were planning on leaving Bossatron next spring, a whole year from now, to return to active duty, bringing more Bossatronian reinforcements with them. So much could happen before then. 

And then it would only be a year before the convergence.

He was worried about the Third Realm. It had literally been months since he had any news on what was going on there. He supposed the fighting was still happening there, then, since Zombiemold was there to help lead the army.

He was worried about so many things.

\-----

“Then the weapons practice.” Wade picked up his own sword, only to have it slip from his fingers. Right. His shoulder was interfering with his arm working properly.

“You'd completely fail that if you did it now.” Pat laughed, dropping into a drill position. He'd been pushing himself harder than Wade had, but he also had a cooperating shoulder.

“It’s impossible to fail practice.” Wade picked up his sword again, grimacing at the pull on his shoulder.

“Which is good.” Pat grinned, returning to a relaxed position. “Let’s get outside. It’s really pretty out.”

\-----

JP couldn't use Tapestry for this. It stayed with Brycelyn.

So he was instead stuck using an unfamiliar sword to practice with someone a couple years younger. She had a diamond worked into the insignia on her uniform, so JP felt pretty comfortable guessing she was going to be Tabitha’s Protector in a couple of years.

Tabitha would be well Protected. JP was better than the trainee was, but barely. He also got the feeling that if she was really interested in hurting him, it would have happened by now. 

She’d probably been training for a really long time, though, and JP had only ever picked up a sword for the first time four, almost five, years ago. And with the year he and Brycelyn had been gone from the Realms, and the months traveling to and from the Seventh Realm and being stuck in the demon camp, he’d only been able to really practice for three of those five years.

At least he was decent at the swordwork part of it now, even if his hip made everything else difficult (if not downright impossible).

\-----

“Actually getting a proper bath instead of rinsing off in a lake was weird, though.” Pat made a face as he inspected his sword. “Nice, but weird.”

“I’m glad they made us take one. Could you imagine the binding happening while we were both sweaty and gross from practice?” Wade sighed, glancing at the rising moons. “It’ll be sunset there, soon, won’t it?”

Pat nodded, not looking up. “We’ll wake up in the morning and JP will have a Protector.”

“Was it weird on your end?”

“Was it weird knowing I was being magically bound to someone I’d only seen from a distance and had no idea what he was really like and he was one of the two Princes?” Pat glanced up this time. “Yeah, it was weird.”

“I meant the actual process.” Wade rolled his eyes. “Because I knew nothing about you, besides that you existed, which means you knew more about me than I knew about you.”

Pat laughed softly, almost uneasily. Then he nodded. “It was really strange. I mean, they told me it would be, but I still wasn’t really prepared. I don’t think they could really prepare me for it better without scaring me off completely.” He paused. “Was it weird for you?”

“Not the binding itself. No, I knew what that was going to be like.” Wade sighed. “But the second I realized I could feel the binding tugging me towards you? That was really weird.”

\-----

Brycelyn wasn’t in the room.

That scared JP.

What scared him more was the single pedestal in the room, and the bowl sitting on it. And, worst of all, the clearly ceremonial knife laying across the rims.

Now he understood what Brycelyn had meant by “Just walk up to it and stand on the right.”

So he did.

The man who had originally let them in (Grayscale, as he’d eventually introduced himself) stepped forward, out of the shadows, his hand on the shoulder of a young woman wearing JP’s sigil on her uniform.

Her eyes met JP’s, and... nothing happened. Was something supposed to happen? JP didn’t know. 

She seemed incredibly serious, though. She didn’t even smile. Maybe it was because this was a serious thing.

She stopped on the other side of the pedestal, leaving Grayscale to step to the third side.

“Heir. Take the knife in your left hand.” Grayscale said, his voice leaving no room for questioning it.

JP obeyed.

“Raise your right arm above the bowl.”

JP’s arm was visibly shaking as he obeyed once again. He was almost 21, he shouldn’t be scared of this. Right? He knew what was coming. 

“Jeremiah Woodward of the Seventh Realm.” Grayscale’s voice became something much older than any human’s could be. “Do you so swear to watch over and protect the magic of the land?”

“I so swear.” The second the words left his mouth, an incredible calm came over him. It was as if a physical presence was there, guiding him as he lifted the knife and slid it across the inside of his right forearm. The cut didn’t hurt at all, the blade was so sharp.

“Do you so swear to ensure the safety of the people in these lands, to the utmost of your ability?” Grayscale continued, even as blood dripped down JP’s arm into the bowl.

“I so swear.” Another cut. It would start hurting eventually, he knew that, but he couldn’t stop the ceremony now. Stopping it now would kill him.

“Do you so swear to obey the ruling royalty in all matters?”

“I so swear.” His left hand was starting to shake now. It still didn’t hurt. When would it start to hurt?

“Do you so swear to devote your life to care for those who cannot?”

“I so swear.” Another cut. His blood was glowing slightly, now. It was like he’d made his blood glow as it dripped into the bowl below. Why was that happening? Was it because that was the fourth cut? Was it normal?

“Do you so swear to continue the blood of the nobility, to allow the magic of this Realm to flow through the veins of your children, and to have the magic dictate how many are born and when?”

JP’s left hand was definitely shaking this time, as he made the fifth cut. “I so swear.” The life of nobility, after all, was a life of duty.

“Do you so swear to perform all duties as previously mentioned, even at the cost of your own life?”

“I so swear.” The knife was slipping a little as he made the sixth cut, and it wasn’t so smooth and straight.

“Do you so swear to do whatsoever is necessary to protect, to defend, to sustain the magic of the land and the people, even if it requires defying the orders of the ruling royalty?”

“I so swear.” His own blood was coating the blade by this point, and had dripped down onto his fingers and his hand, incredibly red and still glowing.

The blood from the seventh cut seemed to fall more slowly, and the blood already in the bowl rippled more slowly when the drops landed, like the blood was thickening.

Gross.

Grayscale moved JP’s arm to the side of the bowl, allowing his blood to continue falling into the bowl.

“Protector.” Grayscale turned to the young woman with JP’s insignia on her uniform. “Take the knife in your left hand.”

She took it from JP’s hand, seemingly unbothered by the blood on it already.

“Hold your right arm above the bowl, even with the level of Jeremiah’s.”

She did.

“Amile Crestwood. Do you so swear to protect Jeremiah from physical, magical, and mental injury to the utmost of your ability?”

“I so swear.” Her voice was firm, clear, and completely confident. And her hand didn’t shake at all as she made the first cut along the inside of her right forearm.

“Do you so swear to advise him in any and every thing necessary?” Oh, so that was how some of the Protectors got away with commenting on everything: they just counted it as necessary.

“I so swear.” The second cut went down her arm.

“Do you so swear to give your life to protect him if so necessary?”

“I so swear.” The third cut, and Amile was still not wavering a single bit. Her hand was steady, and so was her voice. That wasn’t fair.

“Do you so swear to come if he calls you from your medallion after death?”

“I so swear.” The fourth cut was slower, almost like she was a bit hesitant about that.

Like JP’s blood had come out glowing at the fourth cut, Amile’s began to drip darker and darker, seeming to become shadow in a liquid form.

“Do you so swear to be the unyielding reason to his emotion and the emotion to his unyielding reason, in all circumstances, whether great or small?”

“I so swear.”

The blade of the knife was pretty much coated in blood by this point. One side JP’s, which was still glowing, and the other side Amile’s, which was seemingly absorbing light.

“Do you so swear to stand by him, even if you disagree with his decisions?”

“I so swear.”

Six. What could the last oath possibly be?

“Do you so swear to call him from the hands of death should it claim him while you are still alive?”

“I so swear.”

Seven cuts. Seven on JP’s arm, showing the seven oaths he had made for his duty. Seven cuts on Amile’s, showing the seven oaths she had made for hers. 

“Give me the knife.”

Amile handed it over, and Grayscale inspected the blade and the intermingling blood. Then he smiled and nodded.

“Grasp each other by the elbow.”

Now, with Amile’s cuts pressing up against his, and her hand gripping his arm really hard, JP’s arm began to sting. It really, really began to sting.

“Seven oaths you have each made this day. Seven oaths have released you from the normal hold of life and death. Seven oaths, and the blood you spilled, have bound you as Noble and Protector.”

Grayscale pulled the bowl from under their arms and poured the mixed blood onto their arms.

The pain disappeared, and the sound of water hit the pedestal. A rush ran over JP, through him, like he was being swamped with water.

“And so it is done.”


	52. Protector Kjellberg

JP didn’t have any scars from the ceremony, he noticed a few days later when the bandages were removed. He didn’t have any indication of the ceremony happening at all.

Except, you know, for Amile standing a few feet away literally everywhere JP went (except, fortunately, at night, when she was sleeping in the room next to his and Brycelyn’s).

He couldn’t even convince her to sit down during the day. Not even a month later. Not even as spring faded into summer and summer faded into fall.

With nothing much else to do, JP had started practicing pretty much every skill he had. He practiced sword work with Amile (who was notably better than he was). He practiced his magic—he could turn himself and Brycelyn and Amile invisible for almost an hour straight now. He read every book he could get his hands on. He learned how to weave. He studied history and sciences and  _ literally anything  _ he could.

It had started snowing now. JP frowned at the window. He and Brycelyn had been here almost an entire year. It had been over a year since he’d had any news of what was going on with the war and his friends.

“How long do we have to stay here?”

“Until the war is over or the King has deemed it safe.” Amile said simply.

JP glanced over his shoulder to see her standing at attention at the door to the library and sighed. “Okay, look. You can sit down. This is probably the single safest place in the entire kingdom. Besides, standing can’t be comfortable.”

Amile hesitated, then looked at the fire going nearby.

Brycelyn didn’t even bother looking up from her book. They’d had this conversation too many times, apparently, JP mused, for her to even pay attention to it anymore.

“And what of the day we leave here?” Amile finally looked up, meeting JP’s gaze a bit unsteadily.

“Well, that depends, but I can promise giving your feet a rest by sitting when I’m almost certainly safe probably isn’t going to hurt.”

Amile hesitated, then nodded. “Alright.”

Brycelyn looked up from her book, clearly as surprised as JP at this turn of events.

“But first... It’s been a while since you’ve had any news of the war, yes?” Amile tilted her head.

JP nodded. “Since before we were bound.”

Amile’s neutral expression seemed to waver some, and she moved towards the door. “I have something to show you.”

JP raised his eyebrows. This was new.

“Heiress Brycelyn, if you could come as well?” Amile definitely sounded hesitant now.

Brycelyn slid a bookmark between the pages and set it aside, then stood.

Amile led them through the building complexes (there were quite a few beings who lived here, JP had come to know; some of them liked it when he played with them) towards the courtyard JP had so far avoided. 

This was largely because of the two giant buildings there. They weren’t labeled or anything, but JP knew what they were.

The one on the right, the smaller giant building, was the Halls of the Living.

The one on the left, which was giant giant and probably went underground as well, was the Halls of the Dead.

There was a dragon sleeping on the roof of the Halls of the Dead.

That was the main reason JP hadn’t come over here.

Amile walked past the dragon, past the Halls of the Dead, and into the Halls of the Living.

“Are we allowed to go inside?” JP asked.

“Would I bring you if you weren’t?” Amile glanced over her shoulder.

JP acknowledged the point with a shrug and followed, even as Brycelyn’s hand slipped in his.

It was cold inside the building, and the feeling of death seemed to hang in the air.

“It didn’t used to be like this.” Amile said softly, coming to a stop in the middle a large, spacious room. “It used to feel just like an empty room.”

An empty room with statues in a sort of circle all around where they were standing.

Statues that looked like people JP knew.

“They’re arranged by Realm.” Amile said softly, pointing. “The First.” A single statue stood there, and while JP didn’t recognize the face, he realized it had to be Ohmwrecker.

“The Second.” One statue, and JP seemed to recall her being around Quintal when he’d been there. Jess was the only noble in the Second Realm?

“The Third.” A statue of PJ. He looked like he was cracking a joke of some kind. There was a cloak draped over the statue, hiding most of it from view. And, just in front of PJ’s statue, a statue of one of the trainees. Dil’s future Protector, then.

“The Fourth.” A statue of one of the trainees—Tabitha’s future Protector—and an empty slab on the floor. Would the statue of Luna’s Protector go there?

“The Fifth.” Two statues. One of Cheyenne’s Protector, one of Felix. Also marks on the floor, like a statue had been removed.

Felix’s statue had a golden medallion hanging around his neck. 

“The Sixth.” One statue—Jason, MatPat’s Protector—and two empty slabs.

“And the Seventh.” Three statues. Patrck, Gar, and Amile. Amile’s statue looked incredibly serious; fitting. Gar and Pat, though… their statues were laughing; Pat’s was giving Gar’s a playful shove.

Brycelyn’s hand slipped from his to walk up to the statue of Felix.

JP instead looked back at PJ’s statue, trying to see if there was a medallion hanging around it. But the cloak was in the way. In fact, the entire statue seemed to shimmer slightly.

“He can hear us.” Amile said, walking up next to Brycelyn and gazing on Felix’s statue. “He likely won’t respond, but he can hear everything that goes on in this room.”

“Do people come in here often?”

Amile shook her head. “Almost never.” She paused, seeming to consider something. “It’s been a while, actually. He may have chosen to go into hibernation.”

“What does that mean?” JP asked, walking up to them.

“It’s a state of being. It distorts the perception of time, so every year feels like a matter of days instead. For Protectors who end up here for a while, it’s a way of helping them stay sane. Or, at least, slowing down the rate at which insanity comes.”

“Can he still hear us if he went into hibernation?”

“I don’t know.”

Brycelyn looked at the statue, then back at Amile. “What can he sense?”

“He can hear. He can’t see much, but I’ve been told he can still use his magic to an extent.”

“So he can still tell where we are.”

JP raised his hand. “What is his magic?”

“Oh. Cry explained it as sound manipulation of some kind. Felix could always tell where I was by my breathing, so...” Brycelyn shrugged. “Can he feel anything?”

Amile shrugged. “I’ve been told it varies.”

Brycelyn and JP exchanged a look.

Then JP poked the statue in the shoulder.

“Out of all the things you could have done, you poked him.” Brycelyn rolled her eyes.

“It could have been a lot worse.” JP shrugged. “I mean, I could have poked his face.”

A soft grumble sounded, and then a shade stepped out of Felix’s statue. “You could have asked if you could poke me at all.” 

It was Felix’s voice.

A huge grin spread over Brycelyn’s face. “Hey!” Then she paused. “I thought you could only do this for a few minutes.”

Shade Felix shrugged and crossed his arms. “I’ve been waiting a while. Figured I might as well. What are you two doing here?”

“We were sent away from the fighting.” 

Felix swore. “The war is still going on?” He shook his head. “What else have I missed?”

“We’re married.” JP grabbed Brycelyn’s hand. “Amile became my Protector.”

“That’s a strange combination.”

“Felix.” Amile frowned.

Felix chuckled slightly. “What else?”

“Cry is married. Matthias is dead.” Brycelyn frowned. “What does it mean that there’s the cloak over PJ’s statue? Last I heard, both Dan and Phil had been badly wounded.”

Felix looked over at the Third Realm statues. “He’s in limbo.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it meant Phil is dead and PJ didn’t die—at least, not yet. Sometimes, when spouses have really strong connections, Protectors sort of transfer. But if Phil died, PJ won’t last forever. Even if he did transfer to become Dan’s Protector.” A pause. “Or it means Phil is close to death and has been for a while.” Felix shrugged. “It gets complicated.” He turned back to the three of them. “What else?”

“The Fourth Realm fell. The Seventh Realm fell. The plague was back for a while, but it’s gone now.” JP frowned, thinking. “Wade and Pat were badly hurt helping defend Bossatron, but I think they’re back inside the Realms.”

“We’re not the best people to be asking about these things.” Brycelyn shook her head. “We haven’t heard any news in over a year.”

Felix seemed to look over at the First Realm statues. It was hard to tell, since he didn’t really have any distinguishing features. “No slab. No heir has been born, then?”

“Not as far as I know.” Brycelyn shook her head.

“How long have you two been married?”

“Almost two years.”

“I’d ask if the Demon Prince is still doing his best to help our side, but you said you’ve been here a while, so you wouldn’t know. And Snow faded.” Felix put his arms behind his back and paced a little before stopping and looking up. “Look, I don’t have much time as a shade. Maybe two minutes more. Snow said there’s a convergence coming up soon.”

“This summer.”

“I wasn’t aware so much time had passed.” Felix shook his head. “What’s the plan for when it happens?”

“You’ll get called back.”

Felix froze mid-pacing. “What?”

JP made a helpless gesture. “The demons are going to try and destroy the heart of the magic.”

“You’re definitely going to need as much help as you can get, then.” Felix sighed. “Alright.” He paused. “How’s Marzia?”

“Last time I saw her, she was… doing okay.” Brycelyn said. “She’s still working at the fortress, I think.”

“Good.” Felix sighed. “Has Amile shown you the pools?”

“No.” Amile said simply.

“Do it. Show them how to work them. Then keep me updated. The more I know about what’s going on, the better prepared I’ll be when Cry calls me back.” Felix paced again, then paused. “You said he was married?”

“To Cheyenne.” Brycelyn smiled softly.

“Someone should have taken my medallion to the pools so I could have at least pretended to attend the wedding.” Felix grumbled softly. Then he sighed and let his hands drop to his side. “I wish I could give you a hug, but being limited to being a shade makes that hard.” He shook his head. “My time talking to you is about up. Keep me updated. Stay safe. And, Amile, try relaxing some time. It’s fun.”

Amile narrowed her eyes at Felix’s shade.

Felix laughed softly, and then he was gone.


	53. Pools of Place

“What pool was he talking about?” JP finally asked, turning to Amile.

“The Pools of Place.” Amile began leading the way back into the courtyard. “We passed them on the way in. They allow us to see other places at the current time. It's how most of us observe our noble before the binding.”

“Did you use them?” JP asked.

Amile nodded. “Yes. You seemed frivolous, silly even.” She paused. “Still do.”

JP shrugged at the words. That was fine.

Amile came to a stop in front of the largest pool in the courtyard. “This is the one that’s easiest to use.”

“How do we use it?” Brycelyn asked, looking at the reflection of the gray winter sky on the still surface.

“You ask it to show you someone, or something, or some place.” Amile walked up to the edge and crouched before dipping her hand. “Show us Pillow the Sup Guy.”

The water rippled, and the sky disappeared to show a rippling image of Pillow, walking around the edge of a map on a table.

“They’re really pushing on the northern border.” Cry’s voice murmured. He sounded incredibly tired. “When will the snows come? We can’t hold the border for long without it.” Then he sighed.

“Expand the scene to include Lord Cryaotic and whomever he is speaking to.” Amile said.

The water rippled and zoomed outwards to reveal Cry leaning with both hands on the table, looking like he could barely hold himself up. On the other side of the table was Wade, with Pat leaning against the wall a little ways away.

“I don’t know.” Wade shook his head. He didn’t really seem injured, just tired. “Soon, I hope.”

“Did you get ahold of the others?”

“Jess survived the fall of the Second Realm, but Yami died. The magic of the Third Realm is still intact, even though the protection spells are gone. The Sixth Realm won’t last for too much longer, though Lady Patrick and the two children have gotten to safety already.”

JP blinked, thinking back to the Halls of the Living. Jason’s statue had been there. That meant MatPat was still alive, right? That was good.

A long moment of silence. Then Cry’s shoulders slumped. “I haven’t heard anything from Brycelyn for almost a year. It was bad enough when she was in Suzerain, but...” Cry sighed.

Brycelyn looked over at Amile. “Can we let them know we’re here?”

“Communication spells don’t work here.”

“Is there any other way?”

Amile’s eyes narrowed, and she nodded. “Give me your hands.”

Both JP and Brycelyn complied.

Amile dipped their hands in the water. “Patrck.”

Pat’s head tilted slightly.

“I have them. They’re safe.”

Pat nodded slightly.

“Get their attention. The Lords would be much calmer if they knew.”

Pat smiled and stood, walking over to the table. “Give me your hands.”

Both Cry and Wade just looked at him.

“I’m taken.” Cry said slowly.

“So am I.” Pat wiggled his fingers.

“Why?”

“Why am I taken? Because I’m married to a lovely woman. Otherwise, because you need to hold the hand of a Protector for this and Felix isn’t here.”

Wade put his hand in Pat’s, leaving Cry to slowly comply.

Very suddenly, it felt like Wade and Cry were just...there. Touching them, almost.

“Took you long enough.” Amile muttered.

Pat laughed. “I thought you would have learned patience by now.”

Amile grumbled some more.

“Oh, you guys can talk.” Pat added.

“Who is this?” Cry asked.

“Protector Crestwood.” Amile responded.

Pat burst out laughing.

“Patrck.” Amile frowned.

Pat just kept laughing.

“Cry!” Brycelyn said. “We’re here safe.”

“Both of you?” Wade asked.

“Yeah, I’m here too.” JP answered.

“Why didn’t you say anything, then?”

“Because holding my Protector’s hand while she sticks it in water is weird.”

Pat laughed harder. 

“Patrck.” Amile scowled.

“We talked to Felix.” Brycelyn said. “Warned him about what was going to happen.”

“Is...” Cry paused for a moment. “Is he okay?”

“He seemed like himself.”

“Good.” 

“What’s been going on out there?” JP asked.

“We’re about to be very low on functioning Realms.” Wade said. “We’ve lost the Fourth, the Seventh, the Third, and the Second. The Sixth will be falling shortly.”

JP frowned. “Dan and Phil didn’t make it, then?” Then why was PJ’s statue up?

“Dan’s the only one who’s been talking to anyone.” Wade’s voice was soft.

Oh.

“You can check on them directly if you want.” Pat added. “Though Amile might want to rest after this. If you can talk her into it.”

“I have to do my job.” Amile scowled at the image of Pat.

Pat grinned. “This isn’t part of your job. You’re getting soft.”

“I am so confused.” Wade murmured.

“That’s fine.” Pat said.

“You’re ready to get the medallions when Josh calls for them, right?” Cry finally said.

“Yep.” Brycelyn nodded.

Amile made a face.

“Okay, this is actually incredibly difficult to maintain.” Pat looked fine. “I’m going to break it off. Try to stay out of trouble.”

Amile pulled JP and Brycelyn’s hands out of the water, breathing heavily. Then she scowled at the pool. “Show us Lord Lester of the Third Realm.”

The pool rippled, then showed the gray sky again.

Amile frowned. “Show us the grave of Lord Lester.”

Same response.

Amile’s eyes narrowed. “Show us Protector Liguori.”

Again, the same response.

“Show us Lord Howell.”

The water rippled to show Dan, clearly sleeping in a chair. At least, JP hoped he was sleeping. He looked completely and utterly exhausted.

Someone walked up to Dan. “Lord Howell, take to your own bed. This won’t do you any good.”

Dan’s eyes slid open, and JP’s heart almost stopped. Dan looked like a man who had lost everything. “It won’t do me any more harm.”

“You can’t do anything for Lord Lester. Not at this point.”

Dan gazed blankly at the person for a minute, then dropped his head against the back of the chair. “How far away is Suzerain’s army?”

“A few hours.”

Dan slowly pulled himself to his feet, grimacing. “Time to get ready, then.”

“You’re too valuable to lose now. Heir Dil is too young to do this.”

“I don’t plan to die.” Dan started walking away. “Not until every single one of them is either dead or out of my Realm.”


	54. The Northern Border

Wade was hoping the overhead clouds meant winter snows were coming. The Suzerain soldiers kept slipping through the mountain passes. Most of them were caught by Cry's men or the Sup Guys, but a few were still getting through and causing problems.

When he found them, Cry always gave them the same choice. Give information on the Suzerain army’s position and troops, or die.

It was brutal, but it was the only reason the Fifth Realm had lasted so long.

It was the reason Wade was here now, making sure the pass was ready for the soldiers coming through it soon. 

The entire pass was a giant trap. Rocks and boulders waited to drop down on Suzerain soldiers. Cry’s archers, most of whom had originally been hunters, were hidden in the trees. Sup Guys were waiting to drop behind the soldiers and attack the back of their knees (Wade didn't know how that worked and he didn't really want to). Trees and logs hid pits with spikes in the bottom. And, finally, at the highest point of the pass were Cry’s soldiers, ready to finish off whoever got this far.

“Just got done talking to Molly.” Pat pulled Epona up next to Bill, looking over the defenses himself. “Josh is keeping her in Primus. Mark has opened his borders for refugees, too, even if he can't publicly say that.”

Wade sighed in relief. That was something, at least. (He was glad Mark had found a way to help the Realms without risking attack from Suzerain. Bossatron and Avalier had already shown what happened when you tried to help the Realms in this war, and The Land of the Squirrels had significantly fewer resources than either of them after the plague had crossed into there back when it originally happened, when JP’s family died.)

“Apparently Ohm can’t tell if PJ is dead or alive, either. He’s thinking PJ probably got transferred to be Dan’s Protector, which is why he’s so fuzzy.”

Wade sighed. “I would hate to be Dan right now.”

“You mean, be married off as a kid and then ultimately end up in complete and total control of an entire Realm over a decade later because your husband died in battle?” Pat shook his head. “Yeah, it’s rough.” Pat hesitated, then looked over at Wade. “He’s gotten brutal in how he’s dealing with Suzerain’s army.”

“It’s war, and he’s been dealing with it in the Third Realm for almost three years.” Wade shook his head. 

“Yeah, but he’s just killing everyone. He doesn’t even care about keeping prisoners of war right now. Suzerain’s actually started retreating because they’re just so scared of him.”

The two were silent for a minute.

“So, should we tell him that if we were in his position we’d be doing the same thing?” Pat finally asked.

“Probably.” Wade returned his gaze to the pass. “It looks all ready.”

“Good.” Pat readjusted his gauntlet. “Now we wait.”

\-----

A surprisingly large number of Suzerain soldiers made it to the army in the pass, but a good sixty percent of them died in the traps.

They could handle forty percent.

Unfortunately, they were not equipped to handle a demon general.

They heard Boldach the Bloody before they saw him. They also got to see soldiers being thrown into cliffs and rocks and not get up.

Pat just paused and looked over at Wade, expression flat. “Haven’t we killed him enough times?”

“I thought so, but it doesn’t look like he agrees.” Wade sighed, dismounting. This was going to be a lot easier on foot. 

The two didn’t have any more chance for discussion. The demon general was on them. 

It would have been fairly easy to retreat, but to abandon soldiers to something that would definitely kill them?

Wade couldn’t do that.

The bravest soldiers stuck with him and Pat, but a lot of them ran. Wade couldn’t blame them for that. Powerful demons were terrifying. A lot of them were shouting warnings to others, too, so that was helpful.

Wade barely dodged the first few strikes the Bloody threw at him, just managing to block a third with his sword. Unlike last time, though, the Bloody’s sword didn’t break. 

Pat cursed, and Wade agreed.

They needed Cry. They needed help, and from someone with magic that could actually be offensive. He was deeper in the pass. Could he help from there?

“If only you had magic, Protector.” The demon laughed, even as Pat dodged a sword swing. 

Pat dug his sword into the demon’s leg, sending him reeling and screaming.

Pat’s secret wouldn’t come out now. There wasn’t any point. He had magic, yeah, but it wasn’t offensive. It wasn’t even defensive. It wasn’t rejuvenative. It wasn't elemental. It was, in fact, useful under almost no circumstances. 

There were times Wade could barely sense the protector binding between him and Pat, and some times he couldn’t sense it at all. And then there were times he was very, very aware of it. Like now. He could feel Pat’s breathing and heart beating alongside his own.

Boldach backhanded Pat, sending him flying into some local boulders. 

Pat was still alive, even as he crumpled into a heap on the ground. He was still alive.

“Lord Cryaotic is coming!” someone shouted.

Yes.

Wade’s sword dug hard into the demon’s side, and he yanked it out to reveal rib bones under all the muscle. 

The demon screamed again, collapsing. Then he caught himself and began drawing himself up to his full height.

Pat was moving. He was scrambling to get up, staggering towards Wade and the demon, even as Wade darted backwards, trying to get some room to move around.

The demon swung his sword again, bringing it down on Wade before he could get far. Instinctively, he blocked, even as the force of the blow sent him sprawling. The screech of metal breaking sounded. Once again, Wade had broken the demon’s sword with his own.

This seemed familiar. 

Pat was getting closer, almost close enough to help again.

Wade scrambled to his knees, amazed at not being in excruciating amounts of pain.

Then he was shoved aside, landing on his back. What was Pat doing?

He managed to look up just in time to see the demon grab Pat and shove the remaining bit of sword straight into him, crunching through armor.

Absolute agony screamed across Wade’s magic, like someone had grabbed a hangnail and ripped the skin all the way down his body before clawing the rest of his skin off with their fingers. 

Wade wanted to scream Pat’s name, to grab him, to try and reverse what was happening.

He couldn’t move.

His magic couldn’t move.

The world faded, until the only thing Wade could see was Pat -- Pat’s body -- sliding limply onto the ground a pool of blood growing larger and larger around him.

Even when lightning coursed over the demon, charring him to a crisp, all Wade could focus on was Pat’s body. 

Everything went dark. A familiar presence brushed against his magic, and a whispered phrase hung in his ear, even as panicked shouts sounded and someone pressed their fingers against his throat as if searching for a pulse.

_ “JPar will tell me how you’re doing, okay? I won’t leave you alone.” _

“Protector Static! Lord Cryaotic, Protector Static is dead!”


	55. Gathering

Josh had called the nobles to Primus—with the exception of Cheyenne, who was staying in the Fifth Realm to maintain the protection spells there. 

So here Dan was, crumpled in the corner of a carriage (his healer had refused to let him ride a horse for such a long distance), staring out the window as they approached the city of Primus.

It looked normal.

The farms were in one piece, actually growing crops. The walls of the city weren’t scorched and ruined. The road wasn’t littered with bodies. The ground was green and brown instead of red.

People actually lived here, while the entirety of the Third Realm had turned into a never-ending battlefield.

Primus was in prime condition, while Dan had become the lord of death and misery. How many of his men had he seen die of wounds, or infection, or of merely giving up hope?

“You should have been resting.” The healer sounded fairly upset about it. And he wasn’t wrong: Dan was completely exhausted. But he had been for a while, he hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in years. Not since shortly after JP and Brycelyn’s wedding. Not since Phil had taken an arrow to the chest.

“Both of you,” the healer added, even as soft coughs filled the carriage.

PJ sighed, leaning against the back of his seat. He looked as tired as Dan felt. 

At least PJ was recovered. He’d been hit in the side by his arrow, but it had missed anything major.

“I can’t.” PJ shook his head. “We’re almost there.”

The healer shook his head, turning his attention to his supplies bag as the coughing sound got worse. “You all need rest. And lots of it.” He glanced up at Dan. “Running the Realm alone is killing you.”

“Perhaps.” Dan looked out the window again. He’d had to turn maintenance of the protection spells over to Dil a whole two years ago, shortly after JP and Brycelyn had vanished into what used to be the Seventh Realm, with a shaded Protector bound to a demon leading them. 

The healer gave PJ an annoyed look. “Can’t you do something?”

PJ shrugged. “Not really.”

“But you became his Protector.”

PJ raised his eyebrow. “No, I’m still Lord Lester’s Protector. I was bound to him, not Lord Howell here. The two got so close that Howell got wrapped up in the binding as well. That makes me only about a quarter his Protector.”

The healer shook his head, continuing to work. The coughing had subsided by the time they pulled into the city, but Dan was worried it would start again.

By some miracle, the remaining ride to the palace was without problems, even as the healer turned his attention to fussing over Dan and PJ.

“I promise, King Barnes has healers waiting, and you can talk to them.” PJ shook his head. “I can escort Dan there just fine after he’s met with the other nobles.”

The healer frowned, then nodded. “Make it as fast as possible.”

Dan sighed as the carriage came to a stop. “Look, if it were up to me, I’d be heading there with you. But it’s not.”

PJ nodded. “I know. Come on, Minx is waiting for us.”

While the Captain of the Royal Guard hadn’t seen any fighting, it was easy enough to tell the war had put her under a lot of stress. Her uniform, and the uniforms of the other members of the Royal Guard nearby, were slightly less than pristine, crinkled just enough. Hers, in particular, had a clearly hand-sewn mend running up from the bottom of her tunic. 

“Lord Howell.” Minx bowed slightly. “You’re looking...” Minx paused and looked Dan and PJ (who was standing behind him) over, her gaze lingering for a moment on Dan’s broken arm. “Only mostly dead.”

“Thanks.” Dan said dryly.

“You’re welcome. Everyone is in the meeting room, if you remember where it is this time. If you don’t, it’s the single most guarded place in the city right now.” Minx shook her head, looking at the carriage. “Would you mind telling his majesty that Lords Cryaotic and Barnes are only a few minutes behind you? It’ll be easier for me if I don’t have to run back out here to greet them.”

“Sure.”

Minx waved them off. “I’d love to chat, but none of us have the time for it.”

Dan nodded, moving towards inside.

“Remember where we’re going this time?” PJ asked softly, sounding amused.

“I don’t remember forgetting it.” Dan said. That was something Phil would have said if he were here.

“Does anyone?”

Dan just looked at PJ for a moment before moving inside.

The second Dan stepped inside the regular meeting room, he was tackled by Dil. Dil, Dan couldn’t help but notice as he gave him a hug, was taller now. What was he now? 16? 17? And Tabitha a year older?

Dan was one to think about getting older. He was only a few years from 30 now.

That was a strange thought.

“Hey.” Dan smiled at Dil. 

“I’ve missed you.” Dil admitted, his voice wobbling a little. 

Dan ruffled his hair. “Missed you too.” He looked over at Josh. “Wade and Cry are arriving soon, if they haven’t already.”

Josh nodded. In the Seventh Realm seats, Molly grinned widely. 

Dan barely got to take his customary seat before Cry walked into the room, a scratch running completely across his mask and looking like a full-face scar. And then Wade, who, when he saw Molly, straight up ran to her and embraced her, not saying a single word.

According to Cry, Wade had barely said anything since Pat had died.

Dan could understand that. It didn’t worry him any less because of that understanding, though.

“Now that we’re all here, it’s time to talk.” Josh sighed. “The convergence is in just under three days. We don’t know what’s going to happen.” He hesitated. “We could all be dead by then.”

“That would be nice.” Dan murmured.

Cry patted his shoulder.

Based on Tabitha and Dil’s expressions, they weren’t used to Dan’s sense of humor yet, which was fair. Even he wasn’t sure he was joking.

“I’d prefer not to die,” Amanda said. Dan realized Luna wasn’t with her anymore—had she gotten old enough to be able to play on her own now? 

“Most of us would prefer to live,” Molly said. 

Josh leaned back in his seat. “That’s the goal.” He sighed. “Our only information on what’s coming was from the Demon Prince’s original Protector.” He took a deep breath. “As you can guess, that's not necessarily the most reliable information. As a result, we're not entirely sure what's going to happen. Thanks to the prophecies and what we already knew, though, we can guess.”

“Is it good or bad?” Dil asked.

“Yes.” Josh looked at the table for a minute. “The convergence will make magic more powerful.” He paused. “It will also be the point where it's most vulnerable to anyone who wants to hurt it.”

“That doesn't sound right.” MatPat tilted his head. “Shouldn't the boost make it more resistant to that?”

Josh sighed, then nodded and leaned forward. “It should. Under normal circumstances, it would. However...” Josh made a face, glancing around at the nobles. 

With a start, Dan realized the only guards in the room were Protectors.

“The magic of the land has been broken for nearly a millennia.”

Soft murmurs ran around the room. Dan, already knowing the story of how that had happened, took the opportunity to watch how the other nobles were reacting. As expected, most of them were clearly shocked, though MatPat’s face was quickly turning to understanding and realization. 

It was, of course, impossible to read Cry’s face.

Wade, on the other hand, didn’t seem surprised. And Molly didn’t seem all that surprised either. Dan supposed Wade could have known from his years functioning as a prince rather than a Lord, but that didn’t explain how Molly knew. It seemed too large a secret for him to have told her.

Though, now that Dan really thought about it, and how the magic of the Third Realm worked, he wasn’t surprised. There was a distinct feel of raw edges wherever the border of the Realm was. 

“Can we fix it?” Amanda asked.

Josh sighed, then nodded. “Not you. It takes blood magic. Very specifically royal blood.” He frowned. “Last I heard, the Demon Prince was ready and willing to attempt it, but nobody has seen him in almost two years. Ohm can't sense him, either.”

Molly shook her head. “I've got nothing.”

“Was he forced into the demon realm?” MatPat asked.

“More likely is he's been forced to stay close to the Baroness, where they can keep an eye on him and stop him from trying to help us.” Ohm shook his head. “It would take too much magic to force him back and summon him again when they wanted.”

Josh nodded.

“I'm not sure I like where this is going.” Cry finally spoke. 

“The convergence is the only possible time for the magic to be healed.” Josh closed his eyes. “The Demon Prince may not be able to be here to do it, or he may be overpowered by the Soulstealer. And... If the magic isn't sealed, it will die.”

Wade nodded.

“Wait, are you planning on doing it?” Amanda asked.

Josh nodded, slowly opening his eyes. 

“Is Ohm going to bring you back?” Dil asked.

The adults shook their head. “You can't be brought back from blood magic.” Dan said softly.

“Oh.”

Molly, however, was looking at Wade, even as his arm slid around her. 

“You knew?” MatPat asked.

Wade nodded, closing his eyes for a minute. “I've known for months.”

“What will happen after, then? Will there be a Regent or will Wade take the throne?” Amanda asked.

“Wade will take the throne, with Molly at his side.” Josh made a dissatisfied expression. “Most of you know Princess McLoughlin has been ill for quite a while, but at this point...She won't survive the week.”

Based on Molly's expression, she'd known about this, possibly as long as Wade had.

Amanda looked at Molly. “That's why you've been spending so much time with her. You've been learning.”

“There's a lot to learn.” Molly made a face. “But I've been trying.”

“You're not done with the bad news, are you?” Dan narrowed his eyes at Josh.

Josh sighed. “The Guardians have refused to let Patrck's medallion be taken from the Halls of the Living. And they've refused to allow JP and Brycelyn to leave until ‘it is completely necessary,’ which is likely to be after the convergence. We're going to be without people we were relying on.”


	56. Completely Necessary

“Are you certain you want to find Protector Snow’s medallion first?” Grayscale asked.

JP nodded, looking up at the giant doors to the Halls of the Dead. “Yup.” For the plan to work properly, he had to.

“Protector-” Grayscale turned to Amile.

“I will stay here.” She crossed her arms. “I know the rules.”

Grayscale nodded. “I leave the rest to you, then. Be gone with the medallions from here by sundown.”

JP nodded.

Grayscale walked off.

JP looked over at the Halls of the Living, where Brycelyn had been talking to Felix and Pat all morning, then to Amile. “Ready?”

She nodded. “No.”

JP grinned at her, then walked inside.

The second the doors closed behind him, he dug his hand into his boot and pulled out Snow's dagger.

It instantly started pulling him deep into the Halls. Into the statues and medallions of Protectors that had, for the most part, completely died and could not be brought back under any circumstances.

The first set of statues looked vaguely familiar. Protectors for Lords and Ladies in JP’s lifetime. The two for Matthias and Yami were the first. Brycelyn and Cry’s mother’s Protector. Then Havendal's. Wade's father's, with the black medallion that only showed up on the Protectors for royals. Then the faces were definitely unfamiliar. Protectors for the parents of current nobles. For their grandparents. And so on, for hundreds of generations.

And, then, a string of one Protector a generation, like there had only been a single noble at a time. All of the statues wore black medallions.

JP wasn't sure how long he walked through those statues, the dagger pulling him deeper into the Hall, but it was creepy.

The medallions went from shining and polished, to dull, to completely tarnished. Some were at the feet of the statue, the chain having completely disintegrated from age.

The dagger pulled him to a stop in front of a cluster of four Protectors. The first cluster after literal hundreds of single statues.

Three of the four were wearing black medallions. One was wearing gold -- that of a regular noble’s Protector.

It was fairly easy to tell which one was Snow. Only he had the sigil of a moon on his medallion. The other three Protectors had to have been for Gar’s sister and parents, then.

JP walked up to Snow’s statue and lifted the medallion off. It was surprisingly heavy, and kind of felt warm to the touch.

He dropped it in the bag he’d brought, then stuck the dagger back in his boot, and JP turned and ran back the way he'd come.

\----

Brycelyn glanced outside. It was almost sunset. JP would be out, soon, then. 

So she walked up to Felix's statue and picked up his medallion. “It's time to get going.”

JP darted out of the Halls of the Dead so quickly he almost tumbled down the stairs to where Amile was standing.

Brycelyn dropped Felix's medallion—which was virtually Felix at the moment—into her bag and ran to Pat's statue, yanked his medallion off, and dropped it in as well before darting outside herself.

“How are we getting out?” Amile had said to trust her on this, but Brycelyn had just gone against the orders of Grayscale and stolen Pat, so she was a bit worried.

The dragon on top of the Halls of the Dead lifted its head and moved, seeming to smile a bit, before it grabbed the three of them with one clawed hand and shot into the sky.

\-----

They came to a stop in a place that looked all too familiar to JP. The remains of the demon camp still showed through the overgrowth.

JP looked at the dragon, frowning. “Why here?”

The dragon laughed softly. “Demons avoid here. We can speak safely.”

“What are we going to do?” Brycelyn finally asked. “This time tomorrow will nearly be convergence.”

“Follow the plan,” The dragon said cooly. “Amile explained it to me. King Fischbach first, then King McLoughlin. We'll arrive in Primus in time.”

JP took a breath, pulling Brycelyn close. “Alright.”

“Climb on my back this time. It will be much more comfortable.” The dragon tilted its head after they'd complied. “JP, you may wish to avoid looking at the ground.”

JP frowned. “I want to see Septimal. Even if it's just ruins now.”

“Very well.”

Once again, they were flying. This time, it was much less terrifying.

It was sad.

Septimal was below them. At least, what was left of it. Scorched rubble covered the ground. The fortress was still partially intact, but looked like it could fall apart at any moment.

This was his home.

His home was gone.

\-----

JP only half managed to turn them and the dragon invisible as they got close to cities in the Land of the Squirrels, but Amile managed to hide the other half in shadows. And so they remained unseen.

The dragon (it refused to tell any of the three its name) landed in the palace gardens, leaving the humans to slide off its back and land quietly on the ground.

“You're the only one who's been here before,” Brycelyn whispered to JP. “Where are we going?”

“Mark lives on the third floor. He's definitely asleep by this point, though.” JP turned to Amile. “Can you help hide us? I'm going to be too busy navigating to really be able to do much.”

She nodded, and the three set off.

They were almost caught by guards six times before JP found someplace he recognized. 

They were caught moments after when a blue-haired guard opened the door onto JP.

And then a burly man came from the other side and blocked that door.

JP sighed, and they went visible. “Hey, Tyler, we really need to talk to Mark.”

\-----

The first words out of Mark’s mouth were curses when he saw JP, Brycelyn, and Amile sitting in his common room.

“Nope.” JP shook his head. “No time for that. The convergence tomorrow?”

“What about it?” Mark crossed his arms. He was, JP noted, only half dressed. Apparently Ethan hadn't given him a lot of time.

“Demons are going to be attacking the Realms magic. Pull the magic here away from the border, or it might get pulled in.” JP quickly explained the rest of the plan.

“Why didn't Josh just send a spell for this?” Mark rubbed his face.

“Josh doesn't know how bad it's going to get.” JP shrugged. Then he paused. “You know, we should probably get going so we can tell Jack this stuff, too.”

“How did you… Get here?” Mark finally asked.

“Dragon.” 

Mark groaned. “Great. I'll see you off, I suppose.” He paused and raised his eyebrows. “You're sure the plan will work?”

JP shrugged. “Pat is.” He slid his shirt to show Pat in his medallion. It was, the dragon had told them, much safer for the Protectors to be travelling in their medallions this way. Brycelyn was wearing Felix. Amile was wearing her own medallion, leaving JP to wear Snow as well.

“Patrck isn't a medallion.”

“He is right now, until we bring him back to life.” JP made a face. He lived a weird life. “Come on, we're on a time limit.” 

Mark pulled on a jacket and his boots, then followed.

The dragon greeted Mark with a dip of the head, and Mark bowed. “You'll get what you need from me. Don't worry about that.”

“Thank you.” JP said as he helped Brycelyn up.

“I like keeping my kingdom from utter destruction,” Mark drawled. “Oh, by the way, I think there are some nobles of yours here as refugees. Lady Patrick and her two children. Thought I should let you know they're safe.”

JP gave a grateful grin, and then they were off again.

\-----

JP was asleep when they arrived in Bossatron, resulting in panicked shouts as people saw the dragon in the middle of the day.

Fortunately, Jack was outside. He seemed to be taking a walk with a woman wearing a crown like his—must be Wiishu, then—and JP felt bad about interrupting the private moment.

Jack also greeted them with cursing.

“Sorry! We're friendly, I promise,” JP shouted.

Jack cursed again and walked up to them. “What are you doing here? We haven't been able to contact anyone in the Realms all week and then this?”

JP did his best to explain quickly.

“That sounds reasonable,” Wiishu said smoothly. “We can do that.”

Jack looked at her. “Might be just me, depending on how you're feeling, but yeah. We'll take care of our end. Appreciate the warning. But don't use a dragon to get my attention next time, okay?”

“Well, it worked.” JP grinned.

“We have to go now to reach Primus in time,” The dragon warned.

JP nodded. “Talk to you after this is all over.”

“I hope so,” Jack murmured. “I hope so.”


	57. Convergence

The instant night fell, screams rang out through Primus. Even Cry felt it when the protection spells fell over the Realm, and he was sure everyone felt it when the ones on the palace fell.

“Go now,” Minx ordered, drawing her sword as the first demons scrambled along the palace walls. 

Cry bolted down the hall, racing towards the stairs that would lead to the heart of the magic. Josh was going to need all the nobility magic he could get.

The wall next to him exploded, sending demons running through the halls.

Cry swore and dodged what he could while still running full speed. The rest, he zapped with lightning.

The sky was visible now, he realized. And the sky, instead of being clear and starry so they could see when the convergence was actually happening, was covered in a thick blanket of clouds.

Cry swore again.

A soft electrical buzz filled the air, and Cry grinned under his mask. Excellent. He didn’t have to generate lightning. 

It did mean he had to be more careful to not fry any allies, though.

There were the stairs down—Cry took them two at a time, almost falling down them as he did so. 

Everyone else was there already. Josh for the First Realm, Jess for the Second, Dan for the Third, Amanda for the Fourth (having sent Tabitha away with Luna and Dil after the meeting three days ago), himself for the Fifth, MatPat for the Sixth, and Wade and Molly for the Seventh. 

Demons were also there, already. They were trying to reach Josh, even as he knelt on a large circle on the floor.

Wade seemed to be the only one really truly having an effect on them, with his sword. 

Most of the nobles didn’t have offensive magic, Cry realized. He was the only one.

Well, he couldn’t use lightning from the storm through the stone of the palace above them, so he would just have to make his own.

Cry could have thrown lightning, but he was trying to avoid hurting his friends. Wade’s sword was enchanted, and it was doing damage, so Cry would just have to enchant his own sword himself.

A lightning sword. That sounded cool.

And when lightning started coursing up and down his sword, it was indeed cool.

It also killed demons exceptionally well.

It was easy to tell as the convergence got closer. Demons pressed harder on the nobles and Protectors (though, now that Cry looked, Dan was completely without PJ—odd), and raw power began surging through Cry’s magic.

Oh, this was bad. This was very bad.

The other nobles seemed to realize this, as they backed up and gave him more space.

Dan yelped, clearly cornered. Cry turned, preparing to try to throw lightning (there was no way he could get there in time) and-

Vines shot out of the floor and pinned the demons.

Cry whirled to see Phil coughing his way over to Dan, plants sprouting from every unsteady step he took towards Dan, even as PJ tried desperately to steady him. Those plants proceeded to strangle demons.

“You’re supposed to have left.” Dan scowled at him.

“No.” Phil stumbled, falling into Dan. “You’d have died.”

Dan sighed, but pulled Phil’s arm over his shoulders, even as some blood dribbled from Phil’s mouth. “Ready, then?”

PJ nodded. “I confuse them, you murder them?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

PJ lifted his hand, and demons started attacking things that nobody else could see. Some ran. Most stood there in clear confusion.

And then the shadows flickered; something passed through Cry. His breath caught, and he glanced down just for a second.

“No mending the magic for you.” The voice was incredibly cruel, and Cry looked up just in time to see an incredibly tall demon with a sword of blood and shadows advancing on Josh and Ohm, the former of whom was standing in some sort of broken circle. 

It was barely even a contest. The demon’s sword shattered Ohm’s and crunched into his side, sending him to the ground, before coming down on Josh.

The world seemed to wrench, and a terrible groan filled the air before the ground dropped from under Cry, sending him sprawling. Screams of pain sounded, sounding both human and inhuman.

Ohm pushed himself to his knees, blood pouring from his side, and started crawling towards Josh’s body.

“No.” The tall demon stepped between them. “I don’t think so.”

Ohm stumbled and collapsed again, holding his side.

“Today is the day the Realms fall once and for all.” The tall demon laughed, a deafening sound, even as a boom sounded in the air and rain slammed into the ground.

The earthquake had torn the entire palace in half? What?

Cry pushed himself to his feet, trying to figure out where everyone was. Wade and Molly were getting back up, good. MatPat and Jason: they were already taking aim at the tall demon with their crossbows. Amanda was on her knees, with Jess pulling her up.

Dan was standing all alone, looking absolutely furious. PJ crouched next to a pile of rubble that had fallen from the ceiling. Phil was half-buried in that pile of rubble.

Lightning cracked, striking the ground near Josh’s body and Ohm’s gasping form. It wouldn’t be long now before Ohm was dead—between Josh’s death and Ohm’s wound, it was a wonder he wasn’t gone already.

As if things weren’t bad enough already, the tall demon brought his sword down on some of the rubble, and sparks flew, lighting the ground on fire almost instantly.

The tall demon turned to Wade, who had stepped in front of Molly, clearly prepared to defend her. “And now you’re the only one with royal magic left, if you can call it that. No matter what you do, the Realms will fall.” 

Still on the ground, Ohm pulled off his gauntlet and slammed his hand into the ground. A ripple, where everything was completely silent, but only for a second.

Then a giant wolf dropped into the area, fur soaked, eyes fixed on the tall demon. Then, it shimmered into the form of Gar, black sword leaning casually on his shoulder.

“The ruling magic… hasn’t transferred to him?” The tall demon seemed surprised by this, looking at Wade.

“He’s not the only surviving royal.” Gar’s voice was clear, and his expression sad as he took in the scene.

“You don’t count. You’re a demon.”

“You corrupted my magic, Vozun. You didn’t get rid of it.” Gar moved forward, ice spreading as he stepped. “I’ve still got royal magic.”

“It doesn’t matter. He wouldn’t be able to fix the magic anyway. The magic is powerful, but it’s not really royal magic. The bloodline died out with your family.”

Gar smiled softly. “If you say so.”

“Kill him.” The Soulstealer shrugged at Wade.

Gar paused, tilting his head, before frowning dismissively. “Nah.”

The Soulstealer’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t defy direct orders.”

“I can when I’m more powerful than you.” Gar grinned now. “There’s a lot of magic going on right now. Can’t you tell?”

The Soulstealer froze. “This isn’t a natural storm.”

Gar’s grin spread into a smirk.

“Your Protector is dead. He can’t do anything like that.”

A heavy crunch sounded, and a blade dug deep into the Soulstealer’s shoulder as a heavily armored man dropped onto him.

“Thanks.” Gar said simply.

“You’re an idiot.” That voice. That was Snow’s voice, but stronger, actually physical. Did that mean...?

Lightning flashed again, and Cry felt for his protector binding with Felix.

The Soulstealer pushed himself to his feet, black blood flowing freely from the wound. “What are you doing?”

“What I should have done a long time ago.” Gar’s eyes narrowed, and he actually sounded angry as he walked up to the heart of the magic.

The world went silent. Nothing made a sound. Not the fury of the Soulstealer. Not the rain. Not the dragon that bit a demon in half in one go. Not the five people that slid off its back and ran into the fray.

Felix ran up to Cry, grinning. Silencing an area. That was what Felix had learned to do after being bound to Cry.

The next lightning bolt was coming. 

The thunderclap was so loud Cry's vision blurred and the world tilted, even as the lightning bolt struck the Soulstealer. Though, maybe controlling lightning was what was making him so dizzy. 

Felix was holding him up? Yeah. Okay. That was good.

Everything was warm. Very warm. Also very orange. Oh. He and Felix were trapped by the fire the Soulstealer had started.

That was when Cry noticed he couldn't breathe. 

Darkness took over his vision, like clouds. It was incredibly heavy, and cold too. His mask. Something was wrong with his mask. He couldn't move to take it off. Everything was too heavy.

“It's incredible, the magic that can be corrupted.” The Soulstealer laughed, voice sounding a little distorted, like Cry was starting to pass out.

A hand touched his mask, and then it came off to reveal Felix's concerned face. “The fire has us pinned.”

The Soulstealer was walking towards them, but Cry still didn't have enough air to breathe properly.

The Soulstealer stepped through his flames, smirking. “I can't be burned by my own magic.”

And then, as Felix dragged Cry away from the Soulstealer, away from the approaching flames, the demon burst into flame. His screams were of pure agony, and the flames pure white. 

If he wasn’t burned by his own magic… then… there was only one other that had fire magic. Brycelyn.

“LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!” Brycelyn shouted as she burned the Soulstealer to a char, even as Pat ran to Wade.

“She's all grown up now,” Felix sighed. “I can’t believe you let me stay dead for long enough to miss that.”

Cry muttered a curse at him.

“It's time.” Gar’s voice cut across everything.

Brycelyn nodded, and JP grabbed her hand before darting to the circle where Josh's body lay. JP was holding Tapestry. The fifth person (who Cry didn't know, but she wore JP's sigil) ran after, shadows seeming to shift around her.

And then, together, JP and Brycelyn slammed Tapestry into the heart of the magic.

Color rippled out, glowing royal blue threads going in every direction. The threads appeared in Gar—and purple red ones filled in the gaps, creating seven distinct patches of blue. Then there were glowing white threads.

Magic. This is what Brycelyn had meant by she could see the magic.

It was beautiful. 

It was also tattered, barely holding together.

Gar pulled a knife from his belt and sliced his hand before placing his bloodied palm on the center of the heart. 

Entirely new threads began to form, winding out of Gar’s blood, spinning from all three threads running through Gar. The reddish purple threads began to crackle and freeze, then be licked up by fire, leaving nothing but blue and white. Judging by the intense looks of concentration from Snow and Brycelyn, they were the ones doing that.

It only took a minute, maybe, for Gar to be still on the ground and fresh threads ready to mend to magic in place. All of the blue from him was gone, and so was the reddish purple, and only the faintest of white threads remained—and even those seemed to be fading. Everything in him had gone into making the new threads for the magic of the land.

But those new threads weren't settling.

“Wade!” Molly shouted, and Cry looked over to see Wade stepping forward.

Wade’s magic looked just as fractured as Gar’s had, except it was patched with the aqua color that ran through Pat.

Wade's magic had been broken and repaired?

Wade knelt in Gar’s blood and closed his eyes, placing his own hands on the heart.

And then the magic began to weave together, like Wade was healing it.

Pat put his hand on Wade's shoulder, his left arm dangling uselessly. Cry didn’t know when Pat had gotten hurt. What had happened?

And everything became a very, very bright blue.

When the light cleared the thunder had stopped, and rain was coming down gently on the still forms of Gar, Snow, Wade, and Pat. The only light came from the dying flames and the single weir light floating above the now-dark heart of the magic. 

JP leaned heavily on Tapestry, Brycelyn leaned on him. The unfamiliar Protector helped Brycelyn to stand before reaching for JP. He moved slightly, and Tapestry came loose and fell, sending JP tumbling to the ground as Brycelyn crumpled, barely caught by the unfamiliar Protector.

The last of the light went out.


	58. Lord of the Seventh Realm

JP walked through the streets of Septimal, Amile trailing a few feet behind, and smiled. The city wasn’t entirely rebuilt yet—it would take years for that to happen, after all the damage that had been done to it, but it was starting to look like the proper capital of a Realm again.

The fortress was going to take a good decade to finish, though, so JP and Brycelyn were living in a small apartment. Just like everyone else. People seemed a little bothered by that: JP and Brycelyn were the Lord and Lady of the Seventh Realm, after all; shouldn’t they have better housing?

JP pondered that as he took a deep breath of the salty early summer air. Nah.

To be honest, the apartment area they were living in was one of the nicer ones, nicer than those JP had lived in as a kid in Primus. It had familiar faces, too. Amile lived next door (which JP knew was customary, and necessary, but that didn’t make it less weird). Bob and Mandy lived one floor below them. Marie had moved back to Primus, so JP was in search of a future steward for when the fortress was completed. Plus, the whole thing was pretty heavily guarded thanks to Amile and Bob, which meant there were lots of opportunities for friends.

“When are you leaving for Primus, milord?” Thaddeus, one of the newest guards, asked as JP walked in the front door.

“Looks like it’s going to be early tomorrow.” JP smiled at him. He wasn’t used to being called ‘milord’ yet—he might never get used to it—but some of the guards simply wouldn’t drop it. Amile would still use it on a fairly frequent basis too, though JP was fairly sure that was just to annoy him.

Thaddeus nodded, smiling slightly.

JP continued, aware of Amile’s silence. She had something to say. It had only taken him the five years since the convergence to really be able to pick up on her tendencies, but, wow, did it make life easier.

“What is it?” JP glanced at her.

“Are you going to insist on speaking with Brycelyn every night?”

JP nodded. “Of course.” Someone had to stay to keep an eye on things here, and while he and Brycelyn normally took turns, she would be staying for the next two years. And, as happened every year, neither of them really wanted to go two and a half to three months without speaking much. Not when they had magic on their side.

“Then can you not do it in the middle of the night when I’m trying to sleep, like last year?” Amile actually sounded irritated.

JP laughed. “We’ll see.”

“Please. You’re almost 27. You should have the ability to sleep through the night by now.”

JP grinned, starting up the stairs. “I have the ability to sleep whenever I want. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Amile rolled her eyes.

JP laughed again.

The door to his and Brycelyn’s apartment was open, which was fairly normal, but he couldn’t see anyone inside at first, which was not. There was usually at least someone inside. There were usually at least four people inside, if he was being realistic.

As he stepped in, looking around curiously, Mandy was on a chair at the kitchen table, doing some sort of reading. It wasn’t a view visible to the door, so that was why he hadn’t seen her earlier.

“Brycelyn’s in your room.” Mandy glanced up.

JP nodded his thanks, leaving Amile to talk with Mandy while he went to Brycelyn.

“I got a message from Grayscale this morning.” Brycelyn looked up as she stood next to JP’s luggage, refolding his clothes (he hadn’t really folded them to begin with, more of just crammed them in). “The magic has had them make sixteen more medallions in the past three months.”

JP raised his eyebrows. “Sixteen? We’re getting sixteen nobles in one year?” Hadn’t the Guardians made five medallions the year before, too?

Brycelyn laughed. “No. We’re getting sixteen more Protectors. They can be up to five years older than their noble, remember?”

JP nodded, then frowned. “We’re getting 21 noble babus in the next five years?” He shook his head. “There are only three noble couples capable of having kids.”

“Tabitha and Dil are getting married in a few years.” Brycelyn reminded. “That’ll make four.”

JP paused, thinking. “Does that mean we’re going to end up with five kids?”

Brycelyn groaned. “I hope not. I don’t want to go through this four times.”

JP hugged her. “Maybe there will be a lot of common born nobles, too.” He honestly kind of doubted it, but he would say it if it made Brycelyn feel better.

“That would be nice.”

JP sighed, resting his head on Brycelyn’s. “I don’t want to go.”

“You have to.”

“Why? Can’t I just use magic to talk to the others? Why do I have to travel to Primus to talk to them?”

“Tradition.” Brycelyn laughed. “Besides, Cry might be a little upset if he can’t send gifts back with you.”

JP paused, then shrugged. “Alright, that’s fair.”

“How’s the rebuilding going today?” Brycelyn asked, returning to her task.

“Everyone’s pretty cheerful. It actually looks like a city again.” JP joined in. “It doesn’t look exactly like it used to, but it’s pretty clear people are trying their hardest to rebuild it exactly.”

“It’s going to look beautiful.” Brycelyn smiled, glancing out their window. “It already does.”

“Yes.”

\-----

As much as JP complained about traveling to Primus, he actually didn’t mind it all that much. The mountains were cool and comfortable. The sky was clear; a gorgeous blue during the day and filled with stars and all three moons at night.

Traveling to Primus made him feel like nothing bad had ever happened. It felt like when Wade had taken him to Mark’s wedding, and they’d come back this way. Like he was still seventeen, enjoying the novelty of travel and just how busy nobles were.

JP looked at the night sky, his gaze lingering on the blue moon. If only that were true. But, no. It had been a whole decade since Mark’s wedding, and just under nine years since JP had learned he had nobility magic.

And what had those nine years brought?

The demon camp. His friends almost dying multiple times. Some of his friends actually dying. The war. The complete destruction of over half of the Realms. Two different Lords of the Seventh Realm. Two different ruling couples on the throne.

There were good things, he admitted. He’d been married to Brycelyn for just over seven years now; that was amazing. The war had been over for just under five. He still got to see some of his friends, even if they lived months away.

But there were things he would miss forever. Being able to pretend innocence to try and trick Wade into saying or doing something. Having Molly around to talk to her. Having Entoan and Dlive around, and though JP could visit their graves whenever he was in Septimal, it would never be the same. Being able to banter with Pat or Gar.

No, the nine years since JP had learned he had nobility magic had changed his life forever. There was, very simply, no denying that. He wasn’t a kid anymore. In fact, at the end of fall, he would have a kid of his own.

There was a weird thought.

\-----

“You know, it doesn’t look half bad.” JP looked at the walls of Primus as they got close. “You can barely even tell it was the site of a battle with demons and an earthquake.”

Amile laughed.

JP twisted on Pineapple to look at her. “You know how to laugh?”

Amile smiled faintly. “I don’t recall battling any earthquakes here.”

JP paused, trying to figure out what he’d said. Then he rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“Of course, but it’s much more entertaining to pretend I don’t.”

JP glanced at Amile before deciding all Protectors were natural trolls, even the serious ones. They must have had classes on it or something.

A crowd started growing around them as they entered the city and began making their way to the palace. JP had gotten used to that part of being a noble, though, so he merely smiled at everyone. He would stop and talk, but then he would be here for the next three days, and he _really_ wanted a bath.

“You’ll have time.” Amile said, too quietly for the crowd to hear. “The meeting is tomorrow, after all.”

JP smiled. “I wonder who else is here already.”

“How am I supposed to know? You’re the one with Snow’s dagger. Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

JP absently ran his fingers over the hilt of Snow’s dagger, which resided on his sword belt. “No. It hasn’t done anything but predict weather for five years.”

“Well, what’s the weather going to be?”

“It’s going to be raining tomorrow.” JP said, making sure his tone was completely serious, even as he glanced at the cloudless evening sky. “Raining sunshine, I hope.”

Amile snorted.

At the palace, they were greeted by Zach instead of Minx. It happened every year, but JP still wasn’t used to it. After all, Minx was buried with Krism in one of the cemeteries around the city: Minx had fallen while fighting the demons; Krism had been killed in the earthquake.

“Most everyone else is in the new gardens area.” Zach said, looking at the gardens. “You might want to go look at it.”

“Really? What’s it called?” JP was familiar enough with palace life to know the gardens all had their names.

“It used to be the Queen’s Grove, but it got renamed to the Wolf Gardens. Or, depending on who you talk to, the Wolf Guard-ens.”

JP laughed. Of course there was a pun in the name.

“The Wolf Guard?” Amile asked.

“It’s the name for the guard specifically for whichever royal doesn’t have royal magic.” Zach explained. “You’ll be meeting the new captain of it later, but the royal guard answers to them.”

JP raised his eyebrows. “Alright. Taking steps to protect people. I like that.”

Amile rolled her eyes. “Oh, as long as it’s not you being protected, you like it.”

“We’ve been over this.” JP shook his head. “Come on, let’s get settled.”


	59. The Wolf Gardens

“Are you sure it will work?” Dan looked at the prosthetic MatPat had designed, then up at Phil as the latter ran his fingers over the wood and metal. 

“Of course it will.” Phil said lightly. “He knows what he’s doing. Come on, help me put it on.”

Dan just looked at Phil for a long moment. “That’s PJ’s job.”

From the other side of the room, PJ simply took a slurp of tea. “He asked you.”

Dan sighed, but gave in. He was glad for the prosthetic, honestly, because it was impossible for Phil to actually walk without two legs. And he didn’t have two, not after the rubble had fallen on him. And while Phil could certainly move around on crutches, it was a lot of work. More often than not, Phil ended up coughing up blood if he used them too much.

At least he didn’t cough up blood from using them temporarily, or from riding a horse. That was a huge recovery from earlier.

Though it had been nearly seven years since Phil had very nearly died to the arrow, so he was probably as healed as he was going to get. And, while he hadn’t said anything about it to Phil, Dan was starting to wonder if the never-fully-healed injury would ultimately be what killed Phil. The man was 38 now, long past the point of having the relentless healing energy of adolescence. Especially after the arrow.

“It feels weird.” Phil made a face. “Let’s see how well I can walk in it.” 

PJ got up and stood on the other side of Phil, ready to let Phil grab him for support if needed. 

After nearly an hour of practicing, by which point Phil was breathing hard and Dan was seriously worried he’d start coughing up blood again, Phil gave Dan a tired grin. “Let’s go down to the new gardens. I want to show off my new walking skills.”

“You’re going to die.” Dan stared at him.

Phil shook his head. “The plants will help me.”

“I swear, if I have to carry you back inside...” Dan sighed.

Phil grinned.

So they went, with Dan paying very, very close attention to Phil.

“You can think about something else, you know.” Phil said as they stepped into the first gardens. “I’ll be okay now.” 

Phil's breathing already seemed easier now that they were around plants.

“Like what?” Dan raised an eyebrow. “Everything is fine at home.”

“Dil’s doing just fine running it.” Phil sighed. “He’s growing up.”

Dan swore. He’d forgotten they’d left Dil in charge. “There’s going to be nothing left when we get back. We just got Triol rebuilt, Phil.”

Phil laughed.

Soft voices came from the gardens as they walked through them; there were always people here when the weather was nice, and frequently at least a few even when it wasn’t.

“Let’s not stay out long.” Dan glanced at the sky, noting the heavy stormclouds. “I really don’t want to be soaked to the bone when I end up carrying you back inside.”

Phil chuckled. “You won’t carry me back.”

Dan looked over at him and frowned. “Peej, do you want to help me with him?”

PJ laughed softly from the other side of Phil. “Sure.”

“What are you two doing?” Phil gave them both a suspicious look. “I don’t like where this is goIINNG!” Phil’s words ended in a shriek as PJ scooped him and threw him over his shoulder. “PJ NO!”

Dan laughed. “PJ YES.”

PJ darted forward, towards the new Wolf Gardens, and Phil continued to complain and laugh, his words getting louder and louder as he stopped needing air to walk. 

Dan followed at a leisurely walk. He wasn’t running ever again if he had any say in it. 

Hearing Phil laugh, though. Every time it happened, it was a relief. He’d been so worried Phil would die for the longest time, even seeing Phil alive was a load off his shoulders.

For nearly a year after the arrow, Dan hadn’t been in the fighting at all. This was, in part, because he was healing from the injuries he’d gotten himself in that same battle, but mostly because he was the only person keeping Phil alive—and Phil was keeping him alive. PJ was too worn out from his injury and keeping track of all the guards around them to actually be able to help Phil much.

Phil had spent a solid month of that first year in his room, practically covered in a blanket of his own plants because they helped him keep breathing.

And every time Dan wasn’t resting himself, or taking care of some business only he could take care of, he was using as much of his magic as he could to heal Phil. It was slow, at first, since Dan had had a massive infection to recover from, but slowly it had done more and more good.

After that first month, Dan and PJ had decided to hide Dan and PJ from observational magic; to lie to the entire kingdom and pretend that Phil was dead. Nobody could try to assassinate Phil if they thought he was dead. Nobody would try to do anything at all to him.

It had been brutal. But it had worked.

It had kept Phil alive.

And then Phil had almost gotten himself killed when the rubble had come down during the earthquake. 

Dan came to a stop next to Phil, who was taking a moment to lean on PJ and breathe. They had come to a stop in front of three statues on knee-high pedestals.

“This is the entrance.” PJ said. “Ready?”

Dan looked at the statues and raised his eyebrows. He knew who these statues had been based on. The middle was Minx. On the left, Dlive. On the right, Entoan. All three looked incredibly lifelike, as though they could step off their pedestals at any moment.

Except they were dead, and these were just statues, so that was just really good art.

“The three honorary members of the Wolf Guard.” Phil murmured. “I wish I’d known Dlive and Entoan better.”

Dan sighed and nodded before walking between the statues.

“JP got here yesterday, right?” Phil asked, slowly following.

Dan turned and nodded. “I haven't had the chance to talk to him yet, but yeah.”

“I hope his kid will like what we send back with him.” Phil smiled.

“I imagine it will be busy being a baby for a while.” Dan noted.

Friendly curses filled the air, and Dan grinned. Cry and Felix were here, then.

“I want to see this kid as soon as they're born.” Cry was saying to MatPat.

Felix caught Dan's gaze. “He's excited to be an uncle.”

“Yeah I am!” Cry laughed.

Dan laughed.

“Hey!” MatPat grinned. “You're moving around.”

“This was amazing. Thank you.” Phil grinned back.

“Does the other one work just as well?” Dan asked. “For Pat?”

MatPat nodded. “Apparently he's played several pranks with it already.”

“So many hand and arm puns.” Jason muttered. “Never ask him to give you a hand with something. He just hands over the prosthetic. I have no idea how Marie tolerates it.”

Phil chuckled softly, even as Dan spotted a path breaking off from the group. “What's over there?”

“We decided to be creepy and put statues of the captains of the Wolf Guard there.” Molly's voice said.

Dan turned to see four people walking up to them: King, Queen, King's Protector, and a member of the Wolf Guard (judging by the wolf on the uniform).

“I mean, when you put it that way.” Wade looked at Molly.

Molly grinned, and Pat chuckled. 

“Man, I am so glad I have no chance of becoming the captain.” The Wolf Guardsman laughed.

“Oh, hey.” Pat looked between Dan and the other guard. “Dan, meet Dan.”

“Don’t do that to me, boy!” Guard Dan exclaimed, waving a finger at Pat. “Give me a break.”

Pat looked at him, grinning, then held up his left arm—well, the prosthetic for his left arm, built in the same style as Phil’s new leg. “I can give you a hand instead, if you want.”

“I hate you.” Guard Dan crossed his arms.

“This will be an interesting meeting.” Dan murmured.

“I won’t be there.” Guard Dan shook his head. “You’ll be meeting the Captain.”

Molly nodded. “He’ll be there.”

A soft cough sounded nearby, and Dan looked over to see Phil leaning on PJ, shuddering. Dan frowned. “I might be showing up alone.”

“Alright.”

Dan gave a brief bow to the King and Queen (because it felt weird to think he was bowing to Wade and Molly alone), and returned to Phil.


	60. Epilogue

King Wade Barnes never expected to rule the Realms. Nobody expected it. He was by far not the eldest of his siblings. 

But, after Josh’s death, Wade had been the only one eligible, and so he’d become King. And Molly had become Queen. Not Princess. Queen, because the Realms had given her royal magic.

Rain pattered softly on the stained glass windows as Wade watched and listened to everything going on in the meeting room. Pat had walked over to JP and dropped his prosthetic arm on the table for JP to inspect, resulting in the Lord of the Seventh Realm playing with it.

MatPat was deep in conversation with Amanda, and if their expressions were any indication, they were discussing their children.

Wade leaned over to Molly. “Did JP tell you the Guardians are making sixteen medallions?”

Molly gave Wade a long, long look. “Did he say how many of them were black?”

Wade shook his head. “I don’t think he knows.”

“I could have used the warning.”

Wade smiled at her, then returned to looking around the room. Jess, in her place in the Second Realm seats, was leaning across the table to talk with Cry in the Fifth Realm seats. 

Dan was nowhere to be seen, but based on how Phil had been doing earlier, he was probably going to show up late, just like he had every year for the past five years.

“That’s arm-azing.” JP laughed as Dan walked in. 

“It is rather handy.” Pat laughed as well.

“Those are horrible jokes.” Dan declared, sliding into his seat.

JP handed ( _ hand _ ed, rather) the arm over his shoulder to Pat, who slid it back on as he walked to his normal place behind Wade.

The meeting started as normal, and none of the nobles really seemed to notice that the only guards in the rooms were Protectors. The Protectors noticed, of course, and many of them glanced towards the figure standing next to Pat, behind Molly. 

Finally, Wade decided it was time. He gestured for the Captain of the Wolf Guard to step forward, and leaned forward to speak. 

“For an incredibly long time, the royal without royalty magic has been without a Protector.” Wade looked over the table as the nobles looked at the Captain of the Wolf Guard, and the painted wolf mask he was wearing to hide his face. “The Wolf Guard was the solution to that, and now that we’ve reopened frequent communications with the Guardians, we have the ability to make the Captain an official Protector.”

The Captain dipped his head, still saying nothing.

“For cautionary reasons, the true name of the captain will remain anonymous, just as with any Protector for any royalty,” Wade paused, looking straight at the Captain. “And while the general public won’t be able to see the captain’s face, the day might come where it’s necessary for you to know, for whatever reason.” He paused again, glancing over the nobles. They all looked incredibly interested. 

And, as the Captain of the Wolf Guard, Protector to the Queen, removed his mask, they all gasped.

“Hoi!” Gar grinned at them all. 

“You’re not dead!” JP gasped. “I thought you were dead.”

“I almost was.” Gar frowned. 

“Where have you been for these past five years?” Cry asked.

“With the Guardians.” Gar sighed, dipping his head. For the first time since Wade met him, he actually looked a bit older. “Snow died getting rid of the demon magic in me. Between that and repairing the magic, it took a good couple of years to get used to life as someone mortal. I only got here a month ago.”

“What about your magic?” MatPat asked.

Gar shrugged. “It's different. I still have some, but, no, it's not royal magic. Not anymore.”

The questions continued, and Wade settled more comfortably into his chair. 

He was looking forward to the future. It had a lot of potential.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been quite the ride, hasn't it? Thank you all for joining me on it.
> 
> The story isn't over yet, by the way. This particular section of it, yes, but there's more to be told.
> 
> I've started making a comic with these same people. You can read it at thesevenrealmscomics.tumblr.com ; I'm currently releasing a page every two weeks or so. (As a heads up, it takes place about a decade before Lord of the Seventh Realm even starts, following a particular pair of people from the Third Realm.) And I'll write a short story for this every now and then and post it here. 
> 
> ~Potato


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